


Midnight's Luck

by Lrihgo, pwnthosenoobs



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Action, Drama, F/F, Illustrations, Minor Original Character(s), Romance, Trans Character, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2018-08-18 23:36:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 137,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8180036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lrihgo/pseuds/Lrihgo, https://archiveofourown.org/users/pwnthosenoobs/pseuds/pwnthosenoobs
Summary: As Halloween draws closer, the struggle between humans, witches, vampires, and werewolves becomes increasingly pressing. In a world where the delicate balance of peace between the races is constantly tested, irrational fear runs rampant. It’s easy to forget that they only want to live in unity when humans can only see them as monsters and demons.





	1. Part One: Corner Store Fortune

**Author's Note:**

> hello and thank you for checking this out! this is a multi-chapter fic featuring art done by me and storyboarding done by pwnthosenoobs. this will be updated regularly throughout the month and hopefully finishing but kinda unlikely by the 31st, so check back often for new chapters and make sure to share and follow at chilopawbi.tumblr.com and pwnthosenoobs.tumblr.com. full sized illustrations can be [viewed here](https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bwwty3998ky7t2d/AADZnYLQ_nDrlz56_ftz-wV2a?dl=0) as they are added to the fic. beta editing was done by sardonicseamstress.tumblr.com.

The mall was crowded with people enjoying the sunny Friday afternoon. This time of year, jack-o-lanterns and skeleton decorations adorned shop windows and cartoony ghost dolls hung from the trees, swinging softly in the wind. Spider webs of lights with festive ornaments hung overhead, and at night they would create a ceiling of glowing orange streaks and replace the sky’s constellations. Lively families with strollers passed along, window shoppers browsed at a leisurely pace and people in detailed witch and vampire costumes stood just outside of the stores, enticing customers to browse their goods. Excitable groups of high schoolers laughed and walked by the shops. The uniforms were a tell tale sign of where they attended, ranging from the blues of Otonokizaka to the whites of UTX.  
  
The navy uniforms of the all-girls school Eli and her sisters had graduated from not so terribly long ago made her feel slightly nostalgic; she wondered if Otonokizaka was doing well, and how the third year students were holding up as they were preparing for the rigorous exams for college.  
  
Eli was pulled out of her thoughts as she was literally yanked along, her blue eyes darting to meet Honoka’s overjoyed expression. “Hey, come on Eli-chan! We need to go look in here next! Tell us if something catches your eye!”  
  
She really was trying. But she wasn’t the kind to request every small thing that she may have wanted. Her adoptive family would certainly try to give her everything that she asked for, especially on her birthday. The blonde woman smiled and followed along, appeasing the excitement that Honoka felt for her. “Like I said before, though, your company’s more than enough of a gift for me,” she pointed out, a coy smile playing upon her lips.  
  
“Then perhaps you’d rather make good memories instead of getting a physical gift,” an even, soft spoken voice sounded from behind. Umi stepped forward, her arms crossed as she glanced ahead, one of her fingers pointed out lazily. “How about something like that, then?”  
  
Rin bursted forth in between them, running ahead a bit, coming to a jumping stop. “Palm and tarot reading and fortune telling?! That could be really fun, nya~!”  
  
“It... could be,” Eli repeated to herself, never having done anything like it before. It would certainly be interesting. Seeing if they were right or not about them would definitely be a fun little game of something she just had to see. “Sure, we can check it out.”  
  
“Yay! I’ve always wanted to do something like this! I wonder what lies in store for me in the future! Oh! Do you think we can learn the next big winning lottery numbers?! We can be rich!” Rin ran ahead into the shop, giggling all the while.  
  
Honoka practically squeaked at that possibility. “Ooohh! Can they read my mind? Or guess what I ate for lunch yesterday?!” Her pent-up excitement was obvious as she jogged in place before shooting off after Rin, hands in the air.  
  
“W-wait, please, Rin! Honoka!” Umi called after them, but those two were already inside. Eli had a quiet fit of laughter as she and Umi stepped up to the small shop as well.  
  
Sound seemed to fall into a noiseless vacuum as they stepped in, the clamor of the mall dampened by the walls. The inside of the establishment was like something out of a movie. There were dark draperies like waterfalls of velvet and ancient-looking candles lit near where they naturally gathered in the entryway. The ceiling was painted black with a projection of an infinite number of beautiful stars dotting its surface.  
  
Rin was captivated by the sight, uncharacteristically frozen as she surveyed the expanse of the constellations above her head.  
  
“Wow… they really know how to set a mood here,” Umi commented under her breath.  
  
“It’s stinky in here,” Honoka complained, covering her mouth and nose. Her uneasiness was obvious. “The incense is so strong, I can’t smell anything else!”  
  
A nearby curtain drew Eli’s attention, her sharp ears picking up the sound of approaching voices. A group of six giggling girls parted the curtain, their eyes bright with excitement as they headed back into the mall.  
  
The soft lull of a music box hummed beyond the curtain and for just a split moment, Eli caught sight of a woman at the far end of the hall. Eli watched her blow a set of candles out and become shrouded in darkness. All Eli had to do was squint to clearly see the woman knock her head back with her palm pressed to her mouth.  
  
Pills? Eli didn't see much else before the curtain shrouded her view again.  
  
The sound of the music box slowed to silence. The front was left unattended.  
  
“Hello?” Umi called as she stepped forward. A melodious ring sounded as she pressed the small bell on the counter.  
  
Eli heard rustling behind the curtain as the woman she saw parted it languidly with a lax gloved hand.  
  
She stepped out slowly, the rustling of her dress causing Eli’s eyes to draw to the outfit. It was of older Romani fashion and decorated with vibrant, costume-y reds and golds with whites and browns. Beautiful cuts of white lace were sewn to the ends of the sleeves, the bottom of her brown bodice and skirt, and the line of the dress around her bare shoulders.  
  
The woman’s plum colored hair was down and slightly curled, a smile in her gentle turquoise eyes.  
  


She came up to the counter and bowed politely.

“Woah…” Rin muttered in amazement.

“Welcome. May I interest you in some of my good luck charms or rings?” The woman asked in a cheery voice as she pulled the cover aside from the front counter, revealing a collection of jewelry that was lit from underneath.  


“Actually, we’re interested in getting our fortunes told,” Umi stated pointedly.

By that point, though, Eli’s mind had not caught up to the current time. She was stunned into silence, her heart caught in her throat and her mouth going dry. The person before her was simply stunning in every way, and naturally, the social grace that she possessed jurisdicted that she’d stare.

Had she ever seen someone that beautiful before? It was as if she was from a fantasy world, a magical entity of mystery and grace that couldn’t have possibly been from their universe. Eli wanted to know everything about her, from her name to her story to her interests and passions. She was utterly captivated.

Eli’s eyes did not leave the woman’s form, acknowledging that she was speaking words but also acknowledging that she caught none of what she said. When her sister stepped forward, however, her thought process was starting to kick back in and catch up. But before she even had the chance to look away, her eyes went and met amused turquoise ones, and dread birthed from embarrassment filled her, her face lighting aflame.

“Can I go first?! Can you guess what my name is?!” Honoka chirped on excitedly, having no awareness of what had just ensued.

The woman looked back to Honoka, an amiable giggle sounding from her. “Is it cutie pie?” She said between soft bouts of laughter.

Honoka blanched, taking a step back. “Ehhh?! How did you know what kaa-san used to call me?!”

“Honoka, this isn’t about you!” Umi stepped forward, tugging on the back of her shirt to pull her away from the counter. Honoka choked out a gasp like a dog who had her leash pulled.

Rin clapped her hands together and looked expectantly between the amused woman and her sisters. “I wanna know my future, I wanna know!”

“Well then, you can step this way and I’ll get you set up in the other room,” the woman said as she continued to smile. She pulled the cover back over the jewelry and came around to the curtain she had arrived from, holding it open invitingly as she gathered her skirts and turned over her shoulder to the rest of them. “Right this way, then. My name is Toujou Nozomi and I’ll be your fortune teller today.”

Eli stepped forward almost too quickly, trying to play it off by giving their hostess a small smile, lowering her eyes to the ground again to try and avoid creating more awkwardness that was specific to her personal hell. Umi and Rin followed with Honoka at the rear, who had returned to her state of moping from earlier, though it didn’t last for long as the hall opened up and into a new room.

“I couldn’t help but to notice that on your sign, you specialize in tarot card readings, fortune telling, and palm readings. That is quite a vast skillset,” Umi commented, always the skeptic.

Nozomi simply continued to smile as she gestured to a circular table with four chairs placed around it. There were two more pushed off to the side. The room was shrouded in darkness, the trinkets and trunks that decorated it perhaps serving as nothing more than decoration. “It is. And I assure you your customer satisfaction, or the session is completely free.”

Intrigued by such a large wager, Umi hummed and reluctantly took the farthest seat. Rin plopped down next to her followed by Honoka. Eli hesitated before she took the last available chair.

“Let us get started, then. What are your names?” Nozomi inquired as she took a seat on the opposite end of the circle table. There were candles, numerous golden coins, pieces of jewelry, and a gorgeous set of white doilies along the deep maroon of the table cloth.

“I’m Hoshizora Rin!” She announced excitedly as her hand shot up.

“Hiii~I’m Kousaka Honoka!” The pumpkin-haired girl chimed as well, stretching her arms out on the table and grinning widely.

“Sonoda Umi,” the third said softly.

Eli gave a small bow of her head from her seat. “I’m Ayase Elizaveta. Thank you for having us. Your arrangement is very beautiful.” It really was quite a lovely room in its own right. There was definitely a certain charm about the air, and she couldn’t quite place the six sense feeling that she was getting from being in here. She had felt a sliver of the energy before, but now it was much more apparent to her. However, she did not feel as if she was in any danger, so it didn’t unsettle her in any way.

Nozomi smoothed out the already impeccably flat tablecloth in front of her. “Thank you very much. A lot of time and pride goes into this profession. But I do it for the people. So many interesting stories intersect here,” she said, her eyes settling on each of them individually—searchingly. “Now, could you all place both of your hands onto the table? Both palms flat and relaxed like so,” Nozomi instructed as she demonstrated. “By doing this, you become in tune to each other and myself on an equal plane of spiritual energy.”

They all mirrored Nozomi’s actions. A long moment passed, the faint draft that slithered through the room becoming noticeable in the stillness of the table. The candles before them dimmed and suddenly flickered out, a hum of amazement sounding from Rin.

Eli looked around the room curiously, a sense of thrill instilled in her. She looked to Nozomi’s face in the dark, surprised to find that her eye contact was returned. The blonde stiffened. The candles burned back to life and Nozomi was still looking straight at her.

“Interesting stories indeed.” Nozomi leaned back a bit, her lips pulling up into a grin. She swung her gaze around the table, keeping her hands in place. “The four of your fates are very closely tied together… you share a strong bond. That’s very sweet.”

“Oh wow how did she know that?!” Rin whisper-yelled.

“And you,” Nozomi looked back to Eli. “You prefer Eli. I hope you don’t mind if I call you that, as well.”

Umi leaned over slightly, her eyes wide. Nozomi could make a believer out of the skeptic yet.

Eli opened her mouth to speak, trying to find something to say in response to that. When nothing seemed comprehensible or worthy of speaking out loud, she simply stammered, “I… not at all…”

“Wow! So cool!” Honoka yipped excitedly, bundled fists pressed to her chin and her eyes wide with amazement. Eli could practically see the tail wagging fiercely behind her.

Nozomi’s attention drew to Honoka. “Wow… a lot of the substance that keeps you all so close together just left the energy on the table. I wonder who that could have been contributed by.” She smiled at her. “Not to say any of your energies by themselves are weak. I see that Honoka-san sits in the near center of how you all met and have come to be so close…”

Honoka gasped and slapped her hands back onto the table, laughing nervously. “Oh! Sorry… but that’s right!”

Umi nodded along and Rin straightened up, pressing her hands down to the table extra hard.

It was Rin’s turn to gather Nozomi’s attention. “Why, you’re a bit of a mystery, aren’t you? You have something very unique about you that sets you apart from your friends here… in fact, it is like your energy belongs to that of a whole different species, if you don’t mind the comparison,” Nozomi said with a knowing glint in her eye.

Rin’s jaw practically dropped to the floor. She kicked out her legs, vibrating in excitement. “You could put it that way!”

Umi sat silently. When Nozomi’s eyes finally came to her, she recoiled a bit, but kept her hands on the table.

“Umi-san… you are a bit shy, aren’t you? A bit shrouded, careful, and defensive.” Nozomi paused and Umi swallowed audibly. “Especially in a situation like this where you don’t know what to expect. I’d love to make you more at ease by answering some questions you might have. In fact, may I see your right palm?”

Umi looked to the others carefully before she cleared her throat and turned her right hand upwards. “Y-yes, of course…”

Nozomi stood and leaned forward over the cloth as she glanced down to Umi’s hands. She rested her weight on her forearms and gently unfurled Umi’s slightly tense fingers, inspecting the length of them and testing the shape of her palm by rotating it. “You hands are very cold… you are definitely a very reserved person. Long fingers and the shape of your palm as it denotes here,—” Nozomi paused as she drew an invisible box around her palm “—means you have air hands, as opposed to earth, fire and water hands. That just means that you’re prone to worry and stress but you are smart, curious, and full of ideas.”

“Y-you can tell all of that just by looking at my hands?” Umi inquired.

Nozomi simply nodded and beamed. “Of course. Out of curiosity, does your star sign happen to be Pisces?”

Umi just nodded, her surprise evident in her features.

“I see. That makes a lot of sense. Now let’s see… this line here that runs parallel to this one—” Nozomi ghosted her finger along the topmost line of Umi’s hand. “—means that you’re practical in matters of love. Reserved in every bit of the sense, I see? All the way down to this line… it’s long and shallow—almost straight and that of a realist. I’d expect nothing less of someone who is an avid thinker. Interestingly enough, I cannot tell your fate because you do not have a fate line. However, I’m sure your mindful, focused lifestyle will bring you to your goals in life.”

Umi was flush in the face by the time Nozomi pulled away from her.

“Would you like for me to read your palm, as well, Eli-san? If I could better understand you as individuals, I may answer any questions you may have about your future accordingly.”

Intent listening and gawking had previously characterized the rest of the table. Eli’s eyes went from Umi’s hands to Nozomi’s own gaze, clearing her throat and nodding. She turned her hand over slowly, offering it forward wordlessly.

Nozomi’s eyes lingered to her own before they drew down to her hand. She took it gingerly, turning the palm in a similar matter that she had done with Umi. “And what is your star sign?”

She tried to downplay the fact that her heart sped up upon the very contact, swallowing. “Libra,” she stated calmly, hoping she sounded collected when she certainly didn’t feel that way.

The grin Nozomi adapted was intrigued. “Interesting,” she murmured, pausing to look up at Eli’s eyes from behind her thick lashes once more before she began to trace the pad of her finger along the oval of her palm. “You have water hands. People with water hands are usually very artistic. Tell me, what do you consider your art practice?”

It took her a moment, despite the fact that her answer would have otherwise been pretty quick. “Music. And ballet,” she said softly, watching their hands, now.

Nozomi nodded. “You’re an emotional person and you can channel and understand those emotions through dance and song. You are motivated by pure instinct and feelings… and you strive for peace.” She tilted her head, her hair falling over her shoulder as her fingers slid up Eli’s palm and to the bottom most prominent line. “This curve here… you are strong and enthusiastic. It’s hard to shake you when you know your way. This next line… see here, how there is a small circle inside of the thick of it? You will or have already faced a very significant emotional conflict…”

Eli’s attention went between her palm and the woman’s array of expressions, trying to read Nozomi like she was reading her. She was no good at it, naturally. How much of her could she discern, exactly?

Nozomi paused, her eyes sliding to close as she adapted a look of concentration, her smile fading somewhat. “It’s both, actually.” She said offhandedly before she opened her turquoise eyes again and slid up to the topmost line.

The fact that she knew as much about her caused her brow to furrow. She didn’t allow herself to get caught up in it, though, trying to keep her focus on Nozomi.

“Your heart line is long and curves like this,” she followed it with a returning grin. “You express your feelings easily and usually in a tactful manner. Your love life will be a simple one but nothing unlike what you desire.”

At the mention of love, though, Eli froze. Was it an accident that she thought right away that she wanted to get to know Nozomi more so that she could become that possibility? It probably was, and so she tried to rid herself of such a silly idea. Of course it was absurd; attraction was different than love. But something about the way she spoke and the movement of her fingertips gliding across her palm combined with her relative knowledge about elements of Eli’s life made it feel like she had known Nozomi for a lot longer than she actually did.

Nozomi hummed and gave Eli a long look before she winked, a bit of mischief in her unwavering smile as she released her hand.

Eli’s heart skipped a beat. Did she catch that correctly? Or was that a trick of the light?

Eli cast her gaze elsewhere, drowning in thoughts as Nozomi turned to Honoka next. “And will you allow me to get to know you a little better, Honoka-san?”

Honoka nodded rigorously, sinking every fiber of her attention into Nozomi as she cast her hand outwards, committed fiercely to listening. “I’m ready!” she declared.

Nozomi took Honoka’s hand and immediately, she giggled softly as she surveyed the surface of her palm. “Honoka-san, are you a Leo or an Aries?”

Honoka gasped, smiling widely soon after. “A Leo!”

Nozomi nodded once and tilted her head as her eyes scanned the lines of her hand. “You have the most stereotypical fire hands I have ever seen. It truly fits you. You seem like an energetic person, always on the run and finding excitement in even the bleakest corners of life. I laugh because these two lines here are separated, further inviting the need in your life for adventure as you live out every day to its fullest potential. And this line is very wide. You are just brimming with energy, drive, and motivation. On top of that, the shortness of this line here suggests that you have very little interest in romance. Interesting. No such thing as slowing down for you now, is there?”

Honoka formed an “o” with her mouth, astounded. “Umm… yeah! That sounds just like me!”

Nozomi continued to giggle. “Your insatiable spirit will bring you far as long as it burns as bright as it does now.”

Rin clapped her hands together, practically vibrating by the time Nozomi turned to her. “Finally!” She exclaimed as she held out her palm like everyone else.

“Of course, Rin-san. I ask you as well for your sign, but let me guess. You are either a Scorpio or an Aries. Which is it?”

Rin stuck out her tongue playfully before she answered. “Scorpio it is! You’re amazing at this!”

Nozomi bowed her head in thanks. “Again, it’s a passion of mine. Rin-san, you have earth hands, just like me. I know them when I see them. Though, you’re much different from me. You’re actually a very level-headed person, not at all to be confused in sight of your enthusiasm and ambition. You have an amazing affinity towards understanding people and knowing when your ambitions might push someone too far. That being said, you are always looking for something to do outdoors, whether it be sports or hiking.”

Rin was nodding furiously along, a wide smile at her lips as she listened carefully. Nozomi pressed her fingers along the lines as she explained them.

“This line here means that you are a bit spontaneous. You seem to fall in love rather easily, as well. In fact, it seems like you are a bit gullible because of the curve of this line. But that doesn’t mean your loyalty is easily earned. It is easy to manipulate you but you will always bounce back in times of hardship because of your inexhaustible ambition. And like Eli, you have a circle in the middle of this line here, denoting some sort of emotional turmoil.”

Rin tilted her head and hummed, one of her eyes screwing shut as she thought. “Yeah, I guess that’s mostly right! I mean, I don’t think anything bad has ever happened to me…” Rin’s face fell into that of cartoonish horror. “Whaa? Do you mean I’m gonna have to go through something really, really sad in the future?”

Nozomi let go of her hands and pinched her shoulders together. She bowed her head, closing her eyes in a similar manner in which she had done with Eli when that part of the reading had come up. She was quiet for a long while—the longest she had been before she slowly opened her eyes. Nozomi stared at the table cloth, her lips parting to say something before hesitation stilled her. She recovered very quickly, her usual smile gracing her lips again. “Plenty of people go through really, really sad things. But your relationships with the people around you will keep you moving forward. You are a very strong person.”

Rin sat in thought as Nozomi relaxed back into her chair, smiling all the while. “Now that I know a bit about each of you, what sort of questions do you have for the future? It can be about anything from your fortunes to whom you might fall in love with or it could be about what sort of profession you will find yourself in within the next few years. There is no one question that I won’t try to answer,” she said gently, her eyes swimming between the four of them.  
  
Honoka’s hand shot up right away, electing to be the first. “Me! I have something!” She took in a breath, leaning onto the table.

Nozomi beamed, reaching to her side for something. She unveiled a thick stack of wonderfully crafted tarot cards and slid them forward, pressing down hard on the top of them. “Ask away, Honoka-san.”

Honoka’s expression went from determined to concerned within a matter of seconds. She clapped her hands together and bowed her head, pausing as if she thought against asking the question. However, she was able manage it. “Will I fail school?! It’s so hard and it seems impossible to get through sometimes! Please help me!”

Eli smiled in amusement and leaned onto a palm, watching as Nozomi turned to her tarot cards and began the process. It was definitely like Honoka to be worried about such a thing, and in all honesty, Eli wouldn’t have seen it any other way.

The rest of them were captivated during the entire session. Umi asked about how successful she would be in her future career, and Rin wanted to know about what she could do to continue spreading happiness.

When asked about what she wanted to know, though, Eli was caught off guard. Her brows shot up, looking between her sisters at the table. They surely awaited her to ask about something just as meaningful, but honestly, the question she would have liked to ask was one she didn’t feel as if she had the right to ask. So instead, she threw up a concealing smile and asked something else. It was average at best, inquiring upon the best ways of improving her health. Nozomi grinned at her, pausing as if she expected something more from her before she shuffled her cards again.

The two youngest members of their group talked very enthusiastically and animatedly about the things there were told by the fortune teller as they began to make their way back up to the front room. Even Umi was satisfied with the answers she had gotten, not finding any hesitation in paying Nozomi in full for the session (Eli had brought out her own wallet to do so but was quickly shut down by a persistent Umi, for more than one reason).

As the exchange occurred, Eli lethargically traversed the display sets in the shop, inspecting the large array of beautiful jewelry, crystals, and oils within the counter’s display case.

Nozomi came up from behind the counter and leaned onto it casually, her fingers folding together as she rested her chin onto them. “Is there anything that catches your eye?” The teasing in her tone was embarrassingly unmissable.  


Eli stuttered out words, meaning to be comprehensible but ultimately sounding like a trainwreck. “I-I—no… yes. U-um…” She reddened all over again, wanting to cringe at her own ineptitude. She yearned to know so desperately why being around this woman just made the simplest of tasks so difficult. “I mean… your collection. It’s very pretty…” Her eyes dropped to the jewelry again, almost positive that each stone, color, or symbol had some sort of specified purpose or meaning.

Nozomi huffed a small laugh, her turquoise eyes drawing down to the displace case. “Thank you,” she said softly after another bit of laughter. She stood up straight, her hands planting out onto the counter. She looked over to the other side of the shop where Umi, Rin, and Honoka were looking at a constellation chart and pointing up at the ceiling before her attention returned to Eli, her voice dropping to speak to her a bit more discreetly. “They look up to you, don’t they? What would they think if they knew a pretty girl can get you flustered so easily?”

So, it really was obvious. Eli’s hands went to rest on the counter, stepping forward towards it. In her gracefully fluid movement, she hoped to convey a composition that Nozomi had to have deducted was quite superficial by now. “None of them are exactly… the teasing type,” she noted at a matched volume. “I don’t think they’d… blame me, either.” What was she saying and why was she saying it? Eli couldn’t bring herself to look to Nozomi, eyes trained on anything other than her.

More laughter sounded, light and musical. “No, I don’t think so, either. And that isn’t me being overly-confident… you are lucky to have them. You need each other.”

And that was something that she wholeheartedly agreed with. They were so good to her that Eli found herself thinking that she didn’t deserve them sometimes. “I know,” she said softly. There was too much at risk to not band together in a world that didn’t warmly receive their kind. She looked over her shoulder towards them, involuntarily smiling to herself.

The other girls turned and beamed towards Eli. Rin waved and blew a raspberry before falling into a fit of giggles. “Hey, I’m super super hungry! We should go down to the ramen place to eat!”

Umi huffed and elbowed Rin. “That isn’t your choice… though ramen does sound good right around now.”

Nozomi continued to smile. “You should go and enjoy your birthday. You only turn 21 once.”

Eli tapped once at the counter, looking to Nozomi and about to say her thanks before she paused. Eli thought back to any previous words they had shared. Did she… tell Nozomi about her birthday? Or age? It slightly alarmed her as she realized she definitely did not. Her eyes widened, stunned.

“Eli-chan!” Honoka called, waving her arms excitedly. The mention of food had definitely reinvigorated her.

Nozomi stared ahead at the blonde, her expression unchanging as she kept Eli’s surprised eyes. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Ayase Elizaveta-san.”

Eli held her eyes for a moment longer, giving her a very slow nod before breaking the contact and stepping away from the counter. “I, umm…” She wanted to say some sort of parting message, but she resorted to a “thank you” before bowing and turning to join her family, a hand at her chest to try and quell her wildly beating heart.


	2. Concrete Jungle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _When ye fight with a wolf of the pack ye must fight him alone and afar,_  
>  _Lest others take part in the quarrel and the pack is diminished by war. ___  
> —Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936)

Honoka and Rin exited the ramen shop first, followed closely by Umi and Eli. The restaurant continued to bustle with life behind them as they poured out to join the walking traffic towards an undecided destination. Even though Eli was accustomed to an urban lifestyle, the popularity of this area still sometimes overwhelmed her. However, as she walked behind her family and allowed her eyes to wander about at the life around her, she couldn’t have wished to be anywhere else. This particular birthday had to have been one of her favorites. It was, after all, the first she had spent with her newest sisters.

“Wow, I couldn’t eat another bite even if I wanted to!” Honoka hummed jovially, spinning around to walk backwards. “Hey, Eli-chan? Where to next?”

Eli’s attention slid over to the younger girl, remembering that they hadn’t made up their minds about that yet. “Well, I can’t be too sure. Perhaps a frozen treat for dessert is in order?”

Honoka gasped and brightened, jumping up with a newfound energy. “YEAH! There’s always room for dessert!”

Umi made a face and huffed a sigh. “You’re going to get fat. You're the slowest runner out of all of us as it is.”

“Nya~I want gelato!” Rin piped up, causing Umi’s attention to snap to her.

“This isn’t your day!”

“Waaah! Umi-chan, don't be so mean!” Rin shied away sheepishly, adorning a bit of a smile.

Honoka huffed out, trying to take a stand against Umi’s tyrannical declarations. “What’s one little pint of gelato going to do to me? I’ll make sure to exercise extra hard on our next run, promise! Please~? It’s what Eli-chan wants!”

Even through an amused smile, Eli still fostered an ever so slightly guilty conscience that she had started this entire thing. It seemed to be a reoccurring pattern, now, an event of normalcy that she found she quite enjoyed.

Her eyes left the three of them for a moment—her nose leading her elsewhere. Nothing around her was particularly interesting, but there was something she caught wind of that was familiar. The scent was a distinct musky cinnamon—one that she knew was associated with trouble.

She looked about, trying to spot their sources. Eli had been too focused to address the fact that one of the dogs of a passersby started growling and barking at her. The canine’s leash was yanked, and an apology followed shortly after. Her eyes landed on the pet before her, still hunched aggressively while still being pulled along.

Eli looked to them after she couldn’t spot anything, her searching gaze met with an apologetic man. She simply smiled at its owner and waved it off. “Don’t worry about it.”

“That’s so strange, too. She never gets like this around other people…” the owner mused mostly to himself, puzzled. “In any case, have a nice day.”

At that point in time, the other three made their way over to her, watching as the dog and the man disappeared back into the fray of traffic. The pet tried to keep its eyes on them for as long as it could manage before disappearing out of sight completely.

“Honoka? Do you smell anything strange?” Eli asked, trying to not alert the lot of them to what she had discovered.

Her pumpkin-haired sister tilted her head a little, peeking her head up to survey the air with a look of concentration on her face. “Umm… no, I don’t think so? Why, did you happen to find… something… WUAH!” Honoka flinched back in alarm, looking around frantically.

Umi and Rin jumped in surprise, leaning in close to press their shoulders together as they looked to Honoka intently.

“Wh-what is it, Honoka-chan?!” Rin asked with big eyes.

“Tsu—Tsu—… Tsuruya!” Honoka pointed a stern finger into the crowd, all of their eyes following after.

“Damn,” Umi cursed under her breath as she stood up straight. She immediately took a position in front of Eli. “I’m sorry. It seems like I'm going to be the one to ruin this day for you, after all.”

Eli meant to interject with some sort of word of reassurance, but her attention was drawn to the few figures coming directly their way. Involuntarily, Eli stood up straighter, expression concentrated but unreadable. Honoka put on a hard face as well, though she could hardly muster the poised collectedness of her senior. Regardless, she tried to not reveal any weakness either, ready to act at a moment’s notice. Rin partially hid behind Eli’s shoulder, her brows furrowed as she shied away.

A woman around Eli’s age took the front of the group, her body language devoid of wariness or aggression. In fact, a small smirk curved at her lips as she surveyed the group with an amusement of no immediately apparent source. The other two beside her held different stances, her shorter golden-blonde companion sporting a cheeky grin while the other rivaled Eli’s stance, frowning.

Tsuruya flicked long black strands of hair behind her shoulders and locked her icy eyes with Umi’s. “Sonoda, a pleasant surprise,” she started, her voice smooth.

“Tsuruya Rei-san. Kurukawa Kotone-san,” Umi nodded towards the blonde. “And Kiyochiki Sanae-san.” Umi looked to the last ashen-haired girl. Eli could easily gauge the guarded, diplomatic nature of Umi’s tone. “You’re in Sonoda territory, so this is a bit of a surprise. Do you need assistance returning to your side of the markers?”

Rei was in no rush to answer, continuing to gloss over the group before she returned to Umi. “Let’s be completely honest here, they’re more like guidelines rather than actual barriers,” she countered evenly, placing her hands in her pockets. “Besides, it’s nearly laughable that you’re still holding onto that ancient territorial practice. But I shouldn’t expect any less from you.”

The amount of comfort that Rei showed couldn’t be mistaken for ignorance of the direness of the situation. Eli could tell that she knew exactly what she was doing and how to make sure it stayed that way. Her sense of entitlement was quite irritating.

“Especially in the light of recent changes in Sonoda priorities, amongst other—” She paused to look to Rin, “—choices, I don’t feel particularly inclined to show you respect when you and your mongrels have already turned your backs on the rest of us.”

Rin backed away, her brows furrowed and her expression hurt. Umi’s fists clenched at her sides as she stepped closer to Rei. “Sonoda family business is just that—if you have a problem with the decisions of my family where they clearly don't concern you, then you are welcome to bite your tongue and turn away. You’re making no difference today standing belligerently in our territory and since you don't respect order, it's useless of me to try and tell you to get a hearing with my father. What is it that you want, then?”

Rei stood her ground, the smile she had been wearing dropping off. “Oh, but Sonoda, with our presence here, there’s more that has changed than you are yet to realize.” She shook her head, sighing. “We’re not here to start a fight by any means. I have simply come with a message.”

Umi hesitated but held her ground, as well. “What is your message, then?”

Rei frowned. “Remember where your loyalties ought to lie. Is it with your own kind, or with those who would rather see us dead and gone?” She took a step back, looking elsewhere in thought, and paused. “...We aren’t so different in what we believe in. But one set of ideals ensures our survival while the other threatens to wipe us out completely. Humans don’t care about us. They never have and they never will. It’s time that we command the respect that we deserve. And in that manner, you’re either with us or against us.”

There was no reply as the three of them turned and walked their separate ways. Umi was quiet for a long moment as she stared after them, her hands still clenched so tightly that her arms were shaking, her knuckles bone white.

Eli watched their three figures until she lost sight of them, trying to decode what their warning meant. Her lips pressed into a thin line, caught in her thoughts. Whatever Rei alluded to, it was obvious that they would have to tread on warily from here on out. It was certainly no way to live, though. Just because they had become more friendly with other species didn’t mean that they wished for the destruction of their own, surely? Peace was the ultimate goal of the Sonodas. The family had fought a long time to maintain the rights that its members experience today, and that was all that mattered.

“Umi-chan…?” Honoka inquired quietly from behind the both of them.

Eli stepped forward then and reached out to grasp comfortingly at Umi’s shoulder. “Hey, there’s no use taking her words to heart.” Even though she couldn’t see Umi’s expression, she was able to tell that her attention was now on Eli; Umi’s head was slightly tilted towards her, lending an ear to what she had to say. “Let’s talk about it another time and try and finish strong today, alright?”

“Yeah… Tsuruya-san is just trying to get a rise out of you… don’t let her do that to you, okay?” Rin added softly from behind the lot of them. Something in those words felt as though she didn’t really thoroughly believe in her statement.

Umi nodded and sighed, her shoulders slumping as she deflated from her imposing height. She turned back to the rest of them. “I’m sorry, Eli. And you as well, Rin and Honoka. These are problems that I could have never anticipated and I feel horrible for dragging you all along into it. It’s my family name she’s trying to slander, after all.”

“It’s our problem because we’re your family too, shared names or not!” Honoka declared, balling her own fists together. “And if she messes with one of us, she messes with all of us!” She stuck her tongue out in the direction that the group had left in, blowing a raspberry.

“Y-yeah! Let’s go make the best out of today because she’s not getting any of us down!” Rin said, going to throw the three of them into a tight embrace. “I love you guys and nothing changes that so let’s go and have some fun, nya~!”

They shared giggles as they awkwardly swayed in their group hug, trying to stay upright. Honoka nearly lost her footing and almost caused the lot of them to tumble over surfaced more laughs, dispelling the tension of the encounter to the best of their ability.

“Hey, so gelato sounds good, but what about parfaits instead?” Eli offered, causing Honoka to gasp out.

“That’s a super omega upgrade! Let’s DO IT!”

* * *

The telltale sign of a settling autumn was beginning to make itself known, the night air becoming cooler with each passing week. Summer months making their pass allowed for the most pleasant nights, a refreshing night air accompanying her as she headed out for a scavenging trip.

A set of wings flapped above her head, soaring out over the thin brush and towards the direction of the nearly-full moon.

_Minami-sama. They were this way. I am positive that they are ready._

She heard a deep, masculine voice directly in her mind, following without question and with a smile. A bike with an empty basket wheeled by her side, her back to the dim fading streetlights of her home town.

“It’s such a beautiful night,” she mused mostly to herself, her fingers going to brush through long strands of beige hair knocked free by the calm wind back into place. “Even though I wouldn’t mind it a bit, let’s make sure we’re not out too late, alright?”

_Very well then. They’re not that far, in any case._

She thought about mentioning to him that wings tended to make traveling more trivial, but that may have been stating the obvious at that point. She hoisted herself onto the bicycle when she thought the ground may be solid enough to ride on, and though the off-road biking made for a slightly unpleasant bumpy journey, it was enough to keep up with her feathered friend.

Just as he had promised, he landed within a branch of one of the nearby trees. She applied her brakes until she halted near the tree as well.

_We have arrived._

Leaning her bike against the tree and plucking off the basket, she approached a small natural alcove tucked amidst trunks and shrubs. They were sparse enough for the moonlight to shine upon ivory-hued flowers blooming from the ground, a small gasp leaving her.

They glowed milky and vibrant in the light, having to pause for a moment and simply admire them. She carefully folded her skirts under her so that she could sit near them. “Wow, they’re so pretty… it’s almost a shame that I’ll be taking a few...”

A low cooing sounded from the branches above her, a pair of unblinking yellow eyes surveying the area. _Hah, I predicted as such. Why have you not taken one to plant in your home garden yet?_

She hummed at the question, delicately running the tips of her fingers over the soft pedals. “It’s something about this place. Something about how they grow. They belong here—they want to be here. There’s some beauty that can’t be manufactured, you know? Besides, they’re much more powerful when they’re allowed to grow like this…”

The both of them fell quiet, accompanied only by the rustling of dappling leaves overhead. Reminding herself of her self-set time constraint, she sighed and took hold of one of the stems before giving a gentle enough of a tug as to lift the flower from the earth with some of its roots yet attached.

She placed her first few picks in the basket, reaching for another before she was alarmed by a sudden distant wailing and howling. She froze up, realizing that there was, in fact, a chorus of them.

“Ucchi-chan…?” she started quietly, looking towards the owl in the trees. She didn’t know whether or not to feel concerned about what they had just heard.

Her silent request was understood by the owl nonetheless. With a few flaps of his wings, he took off from the branches, disappearing above the trees.  
  


_It seems like this outing has to be cut short. If that’s what I think they are, perhaps you should go quickly. I’ll look out ahead to see how far off they are._

She supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised that these lands may have been home to a pack. However curious she was to learn about them, there was no telling whether or not they were friendly. She wasn’t terribly interested in finding out first hand.

Kotori gathered her things, hurriedly returning to her bike to remount her basket, her heart pounding as she realized the sort of danger she could be in at any moment. She pushed the kickstand with the toe of her boots and started down towards the road quickly.

_Minami-sama! They are heading right towards you!_

Kotori’s eyes widened as she looked up to where her companion had flown off to. _Hurry and get back before they see you!_ She projected her thoughts out as she hopped onto her bike, blood roaring in her ears.

Just then, a blur of spotted fur darted past her vision and her attention snapped to where the animal disappeared into the brush on the opposite side of the road. She heard the wailing near in an instant. Yipping and growling followed soon after as she looked back towards the sparse trees. Several fast-moving figures passed from trunk to trunk before they exploded into the clearing where she had been just moments before.

_KOTORI-SAMA!_

Kotori watched in horror as two unnaturally large bipedal creatures hit the ground and tumbled in a mess of fur, claws, and teeth. She recognized the discernable shape of sharp, triangular ears and the long snouts characteristic of werewolves. She instinctively tried to make a run for it, completely forgetting that she was on a bike as she awkwardly kicked off. She wobbled out of control and with a high-pitched yelp, she fell to the dirt, her bike falling on top of her.

A third werewolf came out of the clearing, off-white fur glistening in the moonlight as it circled the two fighting werewolves casually. Kotori grimaced in pain and began to crawl backwards to the best of her ability, freeing herself from the fallen frame of her bike.

The upper hand in the fight seemed to go to the darker-furred werewolf. Teeth were bared and a sharp whimpering noise sounded from one it was engaged with. Kotori knew she was witnessing a battle. It was dangerous to be here. Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest.

Tails wagged as the other wolf—one of a gray brindled color with timber wolf-esque pattern markings—suddenly began to thrash again and reinstate the tussling. Kotori watched wordlessly as her flowers were pulled from the dirt, trampled, and ripped to shreds as the two continued to have it out. The pauses between thrashing and the tail wagging reminded her of the way dogs played—one animal asserting a dominant nature while the other attempted to turn the tables from a disadvantageous position. It… didn’t actually look like a battle to the death.

Suddenly, loud sniffing right next to her ear caused Kotori to jump three feet out of her body as she fell back to her side with a screech and crawled away. She looked back, eyes landing on the largest bobcat she had ever seen—it was at least four times as big as any bobcat she knew of. Its eyes held an unnatural intelligence as it studied her. Eventually, it turned its attention to the fighting pair and the stand-offish werewolf. It then yowled, a scratchy and drawn-out sound that caused her to shy away in fear as its canines gleamed.

All three pairs of the creatures' eyes turned her way and she felt her every nerve freeze in fear.

_Don’t move, Minami-sama…_

The white werewolf leaned forward into its front paws, sniffing towards her. It snapped its attention away and mustered a low growl as it darted off into the countryside. The losing werewolf shuffled out from underneath the completely still black one and shot after the first fleeing figure clumsily. Then the bobcat followed suit in that direction after a bit of hesitation.

Kotori stared after the last creature, panting and her eyes watering from the lack of blinking she had done in the past few minutes.

After the longest few seconds of her life, the last remaining werewolf stood on its hind quarters and sauntered over. Kotori placed her hands over her mouth to prevent herself from screaming out as her eyes drew higher and higher when the creature neared and towered over her. Its dark fur rippled a deep blue-based black in the moonlight.

_Kotori-sama, I will buy you time to run! I will aim for its eyes!_ Though Kotori’s eyes were trained on the beast in front of her, she could hear the flapping of Ucchi’s wings above their heads, and a few loose leaves fell down around her.

“No, please wait…” she whispered under her breath, unsure of why. She felt like this moment needed to be played out without any interruptions. She was more than capable of handling herself in this situation, after all. Ucchi knew that too.

Its amber eyes looked over her before they turned to her bike just in front of her. Kotori watched in complete awe as it reached forward and picked up the bike, setting it upright. It even pushed out the kickstand and leaned the bike onto its side before looking back to her and pausing.

The werewolf then noticed the fallen basket on the road. It hunched over and scooped it up, her white flowers spilling out of it. It stared, picking up one of the stems of the flowers with a gentleness that Kotori didn’t know clawed paws as big as those could muster. The creature looked back to the clearing that they had trashed, white flowers alike to the ones that Kotori had picked laying in ruins.

It was a strange process of thoughts, but she was almost sure that the werewolf came to the same realization that she did before. The werewolf and its companions were the cause of the destruction of the bed of flowers. The very flowers that she had come to collect.

Kotori didn’t dare move, having just witnessed this particular werewolf maintain the upper hand in some sort of sparring match. It was strong and intelligent—frighteningly so. Her breath was halted in her throat, eyes wide with anticipation. She didn’t know if any movements would upset it. If she did make it angry, it might run away and she'd never have a chance like this again.

The werewolf turned its large head back towards her. It stepped to the side and mounted the basket back onto the bike before it padded around and neared her. Kotori shrunk away and couldn’t help the cry as the creature reached forward suddenly. She screwed her eyes shut and wrapped her arms around herself helplessly.

A fleeting moment passed before she hesitantly peeked through one eye. She looked to a single paw offered out to her, the eyes of the creature beady yet… mournful?

She looked between the paw and those expressive eyes, understanding what it was that it wanted her to do but trying to decide if that was against her better judgement. But... the gentleness expressed by the creature was enough to keep her wondering as it was. Maybe things would be alright.

_Minami-sama…? Please… be careful._

She didn’t know what irrational thought told her to do it, but Kotori carefully extended a trembling hand onto the palm of the creature. Before even really grasping, she scrolled her fingertips over the calloused pads of its paw, brushing over the tufts of fur but making sure to avoid the claws. It was simply fascinating; she had never been this close to a werewolf before, let alone one that showed unparalleled concern and care.

The paw closed around her hand, swallowing it completely. All of her weight disappeared from underneath her as she was tugged up to her feet with a stumble and a squeak of surprise. The sheer strength of the creature! She was released in an instant and the werewolf backed away, ears flattened to its head as it began to bound off after the other long gone wereanimals. It paused and looked back to her almost expectantly, hesitating to move any further.

Kotori gripped at the handles on her bike, eyes never leaving the creature opposite her. The werewolf started off again, looking back once more before a piercing call of a howl echoed through the night. Its attention snapped towards the direction of the howl—towards the countryside where it was already heading. It made a snorting noise, tail whipping sharply once before it darted off through the grass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was a short, transitional chapter and we'll start to pick up next time and introduce some more main characters. thanks so much for the kudos and comments i woke up to! i was gonna post this way later today but i knew this was the first thing i had to do! see you next time!


	3. Clouded Minds, Echoing Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> though it's very early today, have the update! sorry, that just means that much longer until tomorrow but i need the time to finish the illustrations heh OTL enjoy! psst and remember to view the [full sized images here](https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bwwty3998ky7t2d/AADZnYLQ_nDrlz56_ftz-wV2a?dl=0)!

The fluorescent lights of the lecture hall brightened from their dim state as the class wrapped up and began to filter out. Umi shook her head in disbelief, surprised that the time had managed to get away from her, of all people. She had missed nearly half the lecture, she was so mentally tuned out.

She couldn’t get the feeling of the wind roaring in her ears and the pleasant aroma of damp earth out of her mind—the feeling of weaving in and out of the trees in the night as she ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She recalled the events in order: they traversed of the borders of their territory, rehashing markers. Then, Honoka fell behind in the run—no doubt due to her poor diet as of late—and Umi enacted a stern scolding upon her as she tumbled to the ground with her, teaching her a harmless lesson with Eli looking on in amusement. Then, a yowl as she turned to Rin’s call—a sound of distress or worry.

Then the image of a girl, bathed in the moonlight with her caramel eyes wide in fear, collapsed to the earth and trembling helplessly. Honoka kicked out from under her and high-tailed it out of the girl’s sight, following after Eli, whose instinct and initiative always told her not to get involved when they were in their true forms for fear of some sort of negative attention. And then, of course...

Umi sighed wistfully, remaining seated as she packed her things up and waited for the traffic exiting the lecture hall to clear. She zipped up her bag, pausing as she leaned over it, her eyes stuck to the back of her hand. She sat back up slowly, turning her palm upwards as she looked into it with a distant expression in her eyes. She had felt the uncontrollable beating of her heart hammering relentlessly against her chest as she dared to get close. She could feel the tingle of the girl’s gentle fingers brush timidly along the pad of her palm, even now.

The pure, unadulterated thrill of the moment brought Umi’s thoughts back to it again and again. She wished she could apologize. She wished to explain herself—to tell the girl that she wasn’t a monster, to tell her that she hadn’t meant to scare her—to tell the girl her name.

But it was a moment forever gone. There was no way that she would ever see her again. Umi only hoped that she had helped to deconstruct the terrible social stigma around werewolf and werekin alike within those few brief seconds.

Now that the hall was almost completely empty, Umi picked up her things and exited up the stairs, her eyes drawn down as she rethought and reimagined her every move that night.

Umi came to stand in front of a tall vending machine, glancing over its items as she tried to pick out a healthy option next to all of the chocolate bars and candy. She tapped her foot and pulled out a couple yen coins and slipped them into the slot with slow, deliberate movements. Her sharp ears picked up on a hushed conversation happening at a nearby table.

“Did you hear about that attack downtown last night?”

“Eh? Downtown?”

“Right! Some politician is in the hospital right now claiming he got attacked by a wolf.”

Umi paused, staring down at the buttons as the number for the snack she had chosen completely left her mind.

“Whaaat? A werewolf, you mean?!”

“Yeah! Scary, isn’t it?!”

“Haaa… I don’t think I want to go around downtown anymore at night…”

“I know how you feel. But it can’t be helped… They’re allowed to live openly as monsters and they aren’t being monitored closely enough. We shouldn’t have to live like that, you know? In constant fear of them, I mean.”

Umi pressed hard on the dispenser and her coins jingled into the cup at the bottom of the buttons. She scooped them out and turned hastily away, pulling out her smartphone.

Sure enough, the news was littered concerning the details of the attack. The victim was a relatively high-profile anti-werekin advocate—and a house representative, at that. Umi gritted her teeth and clenched her phone in her hand hard. It wasn’t fair how easily the work of her family uniting her kin and humans could be so easily undone because of the actions of one foolhardy werewolf.

Honoka and Eli were waiting by their usual gathering spot as Umi arrived, her brows furrowed as she thought over the news. Honoka jumped and waved in her direction and she forced a smile and a weak wave.

“Umi-chan, I reaaally need help preparing for a math midterm! I’m so screwed!” Honoka piped up cheerfully. Umi huffed a sigh.

“You could start by acting a bit more worried,” she muttered, looking around for Rin. “Rin isn’t here yet?”

“Nope! Said she had to go and run some errands today!” Honoka replied with a nod.

“I see…” Umi trailed off as she looked to Eli, who had been a bit quiet. Upon inspecting her expression, Umi noticed that she seemed a bit… elsewhere. Maybe she had also heard about the news she had just received. “Eli, what’s wrong?” Umi inquired carefully, wanting to confirm it before she brought it up because as much as it had to affect the rest of them, if Umi could help it, she wanted to console with her father first and try to keep the stress of off her sisters.

Eli’s attention snapped towards her, her eyes wide as she looked back and forth between her and Honoka. “Hm? Oh, it’s nothing. I just was thinking… about something things I’ve needed to pick up from the store. You two go on ahead without me. I’ll text you later, okay?”

Honoka beamed and shrugged. “‘Kay!”

“I… well—” Umi started, but Eli had already turned and trotted off. She stared after her with her mouth hanging open. “Well… okay…”

Just then, the flicker of movement at her peripherals caught her attention. She gazed up to a nearby tree, her keen eyes settling on a perched owl that seemed to look right at her before it scuttled from branch to branch. Strange. A nocturnal animal wandering around at this time of day? And was that a bowtie at its neck?

Not a moment later, it beated its wings and took to the sky far out of her sight.

Honoka poked Umi’s cheek, bringing her back to reality. “Wanna head to the library?”

Umi sighed heavily and rolled her eyes before starting off in that direction. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Yay! Thanks a ton, Umi-chan!”

* * *

Eli wouldn't, by any means, consider her actions as going behind the backs of her sisters, but it certainly tended to feel that way when she lied about going to stand in front of the fortune teller's shop once again. White lies never hurt anyone, surely, and the fact that she said she was going shopping for some things she needed, she technically wasn't wrong. Besides, confessing to her real reason for being there wasn't something she was ready to talk about with her family.

Eli debated going in, wondering if her return was a little too soon or not. She didn't want to seem so hopeless and lost as to constantly seek the guidance of someone who (supposedly) knew all of the answers. But since their first session, one question battered at the back of her mind, one that she had asked herself for some time without reprieve. It seemed as if she could finally have an answer, but the notion of hearing the truth terrified her just as much. Was it something she deserved to know? What would come of it if she did know?

She sighed through her nose, steeling herself and stepping forward. Upon entering the mystic abode, she was yet again overcome with that subtle omniscient energy. Eli felt a certain amount of vulnerability as she was alone in there, now. The mall was sparse in business at this time, the shop even more so today. However, she did not catch sight of anyone else present, looking to the veiling curtains curiously. Had she made the mistake of assuming that they were open today?

“...Hello?” she called out softly.

“What do you want?” A new voice broke through the silence, originating from the curtain. Eli squinted, taken aback by the jarring words. This was nothing like the soft, mysterious voice of Nozomi from the other side of the counter. There was someone leaning against the wall behind the curtain, her face illuminated by the screen of a smartphone. Strikingly red eyes met her curious gaze, the stranger’s expression contorted in annoyance.

“Um…?” Eli began, unsure of how to start. “I’d like to see the fortune te—”

“Yeah, yeah. I was just leaving. She’s in the back,” the person said dismissively and stepped out from the curtain and out from behind the display cases, pulling out a pair of sunglasses from her pink purse as she reached up with the back of her hand and whipped one of her black twin tails over her shoulder.

“Thank you very mu—” Eli couldn’t manage to get her words out before the stranger left through the door without looking back, leaving her in a still silence.

Not a moment later, the gentle chiming of a music box sounded from the back. Eli recalled its sweet melody from the first time she had entered the shop. She stood for a long moment, waiting for the curtain to part, but nothing happened. She felt compelled to come up to the velvet drapes leading to the back, her hand reaching out and pausing before she pushed through and stepped into darkness. She progressed through the familiar path of the other day, a faint candlelight illuminating from the room down the hall.

Eli stood at the doorway and peaked in. The scent of incense wafted from inside as her eyes fell upon Nozomi. Her plum colored hair fell in rivlets at her back. She adorned the same dress as the other day, seated on the floor in front of a small candlelit shrine. In the center, there was a small cedar music box, its melody winding down slowly into a crawling silence.

In that moment, Eli felt like she may have been intruding upon something. She considered leaving as quietly as she had arrived, starting to step backwards into the hall.

In the stillness of the silence, Nozomi spoke—a sound that caught Eli off guard. “Hello, Eli-san. Is there something that I can help you with?” She asked, her voice muffled as her attention remained on the shrine before her, her body unmoving.

Eli willed her heartbeat to slow, a plethora of thoughts in her mind from acknowledging that fact that Nozomi knew that it was her before even seeing her to wondering what it was that Nozomi herself was doing. Suddenly it became difficult to convey the reason for her presence even though she had repeated it to herself a hundred times on her way over to the fortune teller. “I’m… sorry if I’m interrupting something. I know your craft is a trade in the end, so I don’t want to waste your time or even ask for a free answer…but...”

A pause settled. Rustling sounded as Nozomi flattened out her skirt on her knees, her head turning as she glanced over her shoulder, smiling. “You’re not interrupting anything. I was waiting for you, actually.”

Her mind went blank at this information, still as baffled by this woman as the day she had met her. Eli’s eyes trailed around the room for a moment, finding that her attention landed on one of the chairs at the table. With as much care as she could manage, she pulled the chair out and seated herself slowly, sighing through her nose. “Ah, um… thank you, I think?”

Nozomi giggled and turned back towards the shrine, one of her gloved hands reached out to push the music box further back onto the table. “You have questions about me. I don’t usually charge unless they’re questions you’d like to know about yourself, so I don’t see the problem.”

“...A few, yes. I think that’d only be natural, though.” She looked to her lap, pinching at the ends of her shorts. “And… I have one other question, but it’s not about me.”

“You know, a lot of interesting stories intersect here. It’s like this shop is at the center of a web of connections, attracting a world that seems mundane to the naked eye. I get a little too excited when someone especially interesting comes in and I got overzealous. I’m usually much more subtle but I wanted you to come back.”

So she was confessing that her skills were more than simple practiced techniques. She had deducted as much, but the confirmation solidified her thoughts. Eli shook her head, her brows lifting in astonishment. “No, by all means, I don’t think it is something you have to hide. Honestly, I think that your ability is incredible. I had always thought that fortune tellers simply had a way with words that makes their predictions applicable to whomever listened, just like a bunch of tricks. But I don’t think I’ve believed in clairvoyance as much as I have until I met you.”

“To be fair, a vast majority of fortune tellers use the exact methods that I do to discern people and reaffirm their superstitions.” Eli watched her backside as she spoke, eyes darting between her and the shrine that seemed to yet hold a part of Nozomi’s attention. “There aren’t very many people like me in the world. You could say this whole practice branched from the first seers, imitating the ways and trying to decipher the flows of spiritual energy when one cannot actually feel or see them. And while they may have their tricks, I certainly have mine. This line of work requires remarkable perceptual ability. I could tell so much about you just within the first few minutes of us meeting without having seen into the past or future.” Nozomi explained. She turned her shoulders towards Eli and relaxed back onto her palm, her head tilting as she eyed her up and down.

She wanted to ask exactly what those things might have been, but she remembered that this particular meeting wasn’t about her. Eli mentally stored away those questions for another day, sitting forward in the seat more to meet Nozomi’s eyes. “Are you a witch, then?” She didn’t sound accusatory in any way, her tone careful yet curious. Eli didn’t think she had actually met a witch, but werewolf and witch history was rocky at best, and she had been warned by Umi specifically to avoid them at all costs.

A smile curled at Nozomi’s lips. “No. We’re not nearly common enough to warrant one single name let alone have any sort of standing in society. There have been many names for people with my abilities—oracles, soothsayers, clairvoyants. Mystics. At the end of the day, however, I’m just human.”

She inspected Nozomi, having a bit of difficulty conceptualizing someone with her abilities as simply human. She claimed no witchcraft ties whatsoever as well, and that fascinated Eli. What more about humankind was she unaware of? “I see…” she stated simply, still mulling over this information. “What are the limitations to what you can discern? If any?” It was an indirect question pertaining to her, though veiled in a discreet way. It could hint her into how much she knew about her and her sisters.

“There are many limitations,” Nozomi started as she leaned off of her palm and gathered her skirts, standing in one fluid motion. “It’s hard to clearly understand what I am able to see at times. Nothing ever comes fluidly unless I know specific details and what to expect out of that person, place, or thing down to a science. The more things that I know about someone and their history, the better I can sort through their past and future. I can’t ever visualize and see through someone’s life that I have no prior knowledge of. That is to say that I’m not omnipotent in any means of the word. I have to know what I’m looking for before I go and find it.”

It was starting to feel like each inquiry was more naive than the one that preceded it, but she truly didn’t know. The questions came so easily now. Eli supposed that it now begged the next question. “Can you see your own future?”

Nozomi breathed a laugh and interlocked her hands behind her, eyes falling downwards. She turned away, pacing into the dark. “Yes,” she answered simply, though the word itself was loaded with a mix of emotions that Eli couldn't decipher.

She fell silent to that one-worded answer, eyes dropping to the floor. Eli didn’t think she could fathom having that sort of ability. She saw it having more of a negative effect than a positive one, a power like that certainly required much responsibility. It was both a blessing and a curse. “Do you… tell your customers these sorts of things often?” There was a small fracture in the delivery of her question, not truly realizing the weight of Nozomi’s answer on her until that moment.

“I don't,” Nozomi replied softly. She looked over her shoulder once more, her smile warming her eyes. “Are you really just a customer at this point?”

Eli straightened up, eyes widening. It made her question the current status of their relationship. Granted, they both knew sensitive information about one another—to a certain extent. “No, I suppose not…” Then what were they?

Nozomi grinned, the notion a tad mischievous. Eli felt her face heat up. “That's that, then. Is that all you wanted to ask?”

Honestly, she felt like she could go on all night asking her about herself. Nozomi was an intriguing person that it would be a shame if she didn’t get more opportunities to ask her more questions later. Eli found that she was already thinking of ways she could see her again. “I… I do have the one still…” She sat back in her chair, preparing herself to ask it.

Nozomi hummed and neared the chair in a few confident strides, leaning her palms forward onto the table as she looked down to Eli. “What if… I told you that I knew what you want to ask and I already have your answer?” Her voice dipped low as she smiled like she knew a dirty secret.

Her heart nearly stopped, eyes searching Nozomi’s face. “Do you…?” she practically whispered. It shouldn’t surprise her with what she knew of Nozomi at this point, but Eli was starting to wonder if there was anything she could yet keep guarded about with her.

No reply met Eli immediately. The playfulness of Nozomi’s demeanor slipped away as her gaze fell to the table. She kept her smile, though it had lost all of its life. “She’s your sister. Of course she’ll forgive you.”

Eli’s eyes fell, her shoulders dropping as well. She bit at her lip, knowing that she had to be right but still feeling doubt regardless. “It’s just… I can’t forget that look in her eyes… of pure terror.” Eli shivered and wanted to hide away so badly, the memory of the gaze of her sister sending prickles across her skin, constricting her heart.

Her hands found her elbows as she hugged herself closely, taking a pause to collect herself. “...Even now I don’t think she’s been the same around me. What can I do to set things right…? This is who I am now, and there’s nothing out there that can change that.” She grasped at the armrest of her seat, the wooden material creaking in protest. “And so there will always be that part that she fears. The part that I fear, dreading the slightest chance that I might lose control and hurt someone again…”

Nozomi’s eyes rested to close as she listened. Her gloved hands tied into fists. “Eli-san, I can’t tell you how to set things right. I can only tell you that you are strong and that those fears will not consume you. You’ll figure it out and it will be painful along the way, but that’s how we grow.”

Eli swallowed, her trance on her lap broken as she looked to her. Within Nozomi’s answer she found a stern comfort, fully bringing her back to the present—in this chair within a fortune teller’s shop, safe and in control. She hadn’t even been aware of the anxiety that had clutched at her chest and stomach, constricting her body. Remembering the exercises that she had done hundreds of times, Eli took in a few large breaths before she cracked a smile, a hint of sadness behind it. She laughed emptily, fitting a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear with her eyes lidded. Her slightly trembling hand still betrayed her uneasiness. “Of course not… I’m sorry. I let my emotions get the better of me.” She came to a stand, pushing the chair out with the back of her legs. “These are the questions that have haunted me since then… and they don’t have easy solutions that a clairvoyant can simply give me. I understand that.”

She paused, adopting a distant look for just a brief moment. Eli shook her head, fishing out her small wallet from her back pocket. “Please, what am I due to you? Allow me to compensate you for the trouble.”

Nozomi’s expression filled with surprise as she looked down to Eli’s hands. “Wait…” she started. She stepped around the table towards her, her fingers brushing against the tablecloth as she rounded it and stood before her, meeting her eyes with a revitalized smile. It didn’t cross Eli that she was a good couple of inches taller than Nozomi until that moment. She considered a lot of the people around her to be pretty short compared to her, but this woman was even shorter than Honoka, she realized. “How about lunch? That should be plenty in return.”

Eli hoped she seriously downplayed the excitement she felt with such a proposition. Her heart soared as she held Nozomi’s eyes, going to slowly replace her wallet into her pocket. “Lunch…? Sure… sure, I think that’s agreeable.” She hoped her smile wasn’t too big as to warrant suspicion.

With a brief flick of her eyes up and down Eli’s form, Nozomi walked past her towards the doorway. “I’ll need a few minutes to change. Care to wait around for a little?”

“Oh… of course.” Eli sat back in her chair, getting comfortable for a wait that she couldn’t be sure of the duration of. “I’ll be here…”

She tried to direct her eyes elsewhere, but her attention was glued onto Nozomi until she disappeared behind a separate set of veils and hanging beads. A few moments passed, and with the silence that now filled the room, she found her keen ears naturally drawing to the rustling coming from beyond her scope of vision. She sighed, trying to draw her attention to anything else, for this sort of situation crossed her as an infringement upon her hostess’s privacy.

Thinking back to the collection of answers she received from Nozomi, they truly did raise more inquiries than closure to her previous curiosities. She would need a lot more time allotted than now to absorb the information that she had been given.

Eli scanned around the room, her attention naturally falling to the shrine that she had seen Nozomi seated in front of before. Eli wondered what, or who, it could have been for. She began to fiddle with her fingers in her lap, debating on taking a closer look. From where she sat, she was able to see that it was a simplistic yet pretty set up. The music box made up an integral part of the shrine, recalling its lovely yet yearning tune. Eli stood, approaching as to get a closer look of the contraption. She used to own one herself as a little girl, and even now she found them to be every bit as magical as she did before.

She kneeled, wishing that she could hear its tune again, but something told her that she ought to not wind it. What she had not noticed before was what looked like a picture frame faced down. Did it fall over? Curiosity got the best of her, however, and she reached forward to gently scoop up the frame, turning it around.

Her first impression was that it was a picture of Nozomi, but the more she looked, the more she realized that that wasn’t the case. The woman in the photo was more aged but still extremely beautiful. Was this her mother? If so, then the shrine now crossed Eli as something highly sentimental to Nozomi. After debating setting it upright, Eli went ahead and placed it in its previous position, brows furrowing.

She felt compelled to bow her head and fold her hands together, giving a silent prayer for the woman’s peace in the afterlife. Eli also made sure to express her gratitude for having stumbled into Nozomi’s life and whatever powers her mother had done to give her the opportunity to meet with her.

She looked back up to the candles and burning incense, standing slowly as her hands fell to her sides. She sighed wistfully through her nose and turned to pace the room amicably.

Try as she might have to steal her attention elsewhere, a sharp rattling noise drew her attention back to the room Nozomi had disappeared from. Eli paused in her steps, recognizing the sound as a bottle of pills being picked up and emptied. Briefly she wondered upon what they could be for, seeming as she had taken them both times Eli had been here. Asking was completely out of the question, though. She herself didn’t quite like it when people questioned her about why she took her own medication for anxiety.

More rustling followed before the pull of a zipper came from the room. Eli turned as Nozomi approached the beads, parted them quickly, and stepped into the room with a smile.

It was a bit jarring, seeing her in a skirt and a jacket with her hair pulled back into twin pony tails. She looked much younger than she did in her work dress. It wasn’t off-putting, of course. Eli found that she also enjoyed this side of Nozomi.

“All right then, ready to go?” Nozomi tilted her head into the question with her usual warm smile, her hands folded in front of her and holding a cute handbag.

“Sure. Any destinations in mind?” she asked, offering a smile easily enough.

“I know a really good yakiniku place a couple blocks from here. How about it?” Nozomi inquired over her shoulder as she put out all the candles and lights.

She might have known of the one in passing, but she had never actually eaten there before. Now was an excellent opportunity, and with a gorgeous girl, at that. “That sounds great.”


	4. Walking on Tightropes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again! the illustrations from this chapter on aren't done yet OTL. i fell way behind schedule and thought that i could pull through last second and procrastinate through them. each illustration takes me 4-9 hours and there are three in this chapter, so that's obviously not happening in time haaa! anyway, i'll definitely add them in later. this saturday, the 8th, the last chapter of part one will be posted and then it's time to play catch-up in beta-ing the next part and getting the art pushed through. day-by-day updates should be back by the 10th, but no promises aside from the promise that we'll be back very soon! so for now, enjoy the daily updates!

Nozomi and Eli were seated in the restaurant, left to their own devices as the plates of prepared meats and vegetables were placed before them, ready to be cooked. The grill was cultivating heat, nearly hot enough to start. So far Eli’s impression of the establishment was positive, as it wasn’t terribly busy on this particular day, and the aroma of grilled meats wafted pleasantly in the air.

“Do your packmates know where you are?” Nozomi inquired easily, returning Eli’s attention to their table.

Eli leaned more onto her elbows, folding her arms together. “...No. They don’t,” she replied after a moment. It may have been useless hiding the truth from her anyway.

Nozomi hummed in response. “I’m curious, then. Do you really have some sort of telepathic link to them? Could you speak to them now or is that some silly myth?”

She shook her head, a smile of amusement lighting her face. “No, there’s no telepathy going on. We do spend a lot of time around one another, though, and can pick up on what one another may be feeling or thinking.” It was strange to talk so casually about this with another person, for this was something that didn’t need to be discussed amongst her kind or ever really needed to be explained. There were hardly any situations where she would find that she could talk so freely about her kind, anyway.

However, the fact that Nozomi knew the truth about her and didn’t seem to mind it at all made Eli feel a lot safer with sharing these things with her. Otherwise, she and her sisters had agreed to keep their identity under wraps to others who did not know or need to know purely for safety reasons. There was no telling what sort of reaction someone might have as a result of their misguided preconceptions about wereanimals.

So, they had the luck of being practically invisible to the humans around them, save for Umi. Since her identity and family were high profile enough for someone to recognize her as someone with lycanthropic abilities at the drop of her surname, she would occasionally be treated as such.

“I see,” Nozomi said whimsically. “I’m sure there’s a lot of things about werewolves that normal people couldn’t even begin to try and understand. That sort of thought also creates a lot of stereotypes and misinformation. It’s a dangerous combination, ignorance and assumption… anyway, I’m curious about Rin-chan. She isn’t a were _wolf_ , correct? What is the story there, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Yeah… well, Rin…” Eli paused and thought about how to approach it. “She’s not. She’s more of a feline werekin... a werecat if you will. There are plenty of other types of wereanimals out there, but it’s naturally a lot more… popular to focus on the wolves. It causes a disproportionate amount of targeting to werewolves… but regardless, it’s important for all werekin alike to band together. We’re safer in numbers.”

Eli peaked at Nozomi quickly before her eyes returned to the grill, beginning to place the vegetables onto the hot grating. “So, it sort of rose out of necessity that we adopted her into our pack. There’s this mentality that a lot of people who villainize us are quick to forget, and that’s the fact that we really are more compassionate than they would have others think. When someone is in need and we have the ability to help them, that’s what we’ll do. So when we found her scared with no memories of where she had come from at the borders of our territory, we knew we had to do something.”

Eli paused, brows furrowing. “Well, by that I mean Honoka wanted to do something. She was the one who pushed for it from the beginning. The rest of us had a harder time trying to figure out how to deal with a different kind of wereanimal. There was a time where I was definitely more focused on werewolf issues, completely disregarding the fact that there were others like me who didn’t have as much of a voice or a platform to really even stand upon to talk about the things that hindered their own lives.”

Eli shrugged, letting out a one beat laugh. “I hope I’m making sense. It’s terribly complicated.” Ironically, it was her field of study, but she had given in to the fact that she simply couldn’t muster as much with Nozomi, always in a constant state of bafflement over everything about her. She hardly had to know how to explain these things in the first place from her own experience. No one ever asked.

“I see… I can’t imagine how hard it is to work to try and make this world a better place when you are in the position that you are. It seems like everyone is pining against wereanimals trying to separate your kind from our society out of malice and fear of what they don’t understand. Because of that, it seems so easy to slink away and hide what you are. So, I admire you for embracing it and doing what you can,” Nozomi returned and though her smile never faulted, the words she spoke were solemn. “I may not ever truly see eye-to-eye with your struggle but I realize I’m part of the problem if I don’t try to do what I can. That’s why I couldn’t pass up the chance to get to know you better.”

“I can’t fault you for not knowing. Not when I myself was among those people. I lived in ignorant bliss until it affected me directly.” Eli shuddered thinking about how she used to think about werekin and how all of those ideas came crashing down around her in a very short amount of time.

“There is so much to our world that it’s hard not to live in some sort of ignorance. Wereanimals, witches, vampires… you can’t ever truly know them without having met them and that is just too much to ask from any one person, don’t you think?”

Eli hummed. “You’re right. Listening to what they have to say of their experience is different than learning about them from the books. But otherwise, we do what we can.” She glanced out the window and scanned the crowd lazily, not expecting to lock eyes with anyone, but when she met grey eyes looking exactly her way, Eli’s brows rose. As quickly as it had happened, though, the stranger looked away, greeting a woman with snowy hair. It was a strange coincidence, she figured. Eli turned back to Nozomi, thinking upon her next inquiry. “Where do you stand in all of it?” It was a broad question at the least and cautious at most.

“I can’t say I’ve been directly involved politically, but I try to educate about what little I know when I get the opportunity. You see, my best friend is a witch. I’ve seen firsthand the kind of unfair prejudice that she’s had to endure.”

Eli was no stranger to that prejudice, having seen it herself. Despite the things that she was learning in her studies, she couldn’t help that she still very much held an ingrained distrust of witches.

“I could only think of the fact that if mystics weren’t so rare, then I would be shunned for being different, as well,” Nozomi continued. “So I try to understand how difficult it is and try to right the misconceptions some people might have while I see the opportunity. In that sense, I try to tell only what I know. You’re the first wereanimal that I’ve talked with for longer than a couple minutes, so hopefully that can change. Especially with the abilities that I have, I know that I can do a lot with them if only I knew the right people.”

“...I see. But… how are you so sure?” She asked with a raised brow. “How are you so sure that you haven’t talked with other werekin?” Eli specified.

“It has a lot to do with my ability to read energies. There never is a good reason to approach someone on the street because I could tell they aren't human. It seems a little strange, don't you think? It is even more confusing to involve myself with them when I am so far removed from their lives. In your case, you were a customer of mine and I knew you would be coming back, so I allowed myself to be a bit selfish and push for that very future.” Nozomi met Eli’s eyes with a knowing smile. “At the end of the day, don't wereanimals want to be treated as people? That was also another thing stopping me.”

Eli was silent for a moment, searching her. She gave her a small nod, returning Nozomi’s smile. It was quite a contagious gesture, one that was very easily starting to pull at her heart strings. Eli’s eyes drew downwards to the grill, thoughtful as she flipped the vegetables before adding the meats to the heated grates. “So, you want to see into my world? If so, what do you get from it? Why go through the effort to do so? There’s a lot between our species that neither you nor I can change social or political atmospheres on our own, as much as we may wish that we can… so what is it that you seek?”

Nozomi paused for a long moment. She folded her fingers together, resting her chin on them as she looked out towards the window with a distant look in her eyes. “It was the wish of someone very dear to me to be able to see the world in harmony… a world without wars or fear of persecution for who and what you are. I’ve been hiding away in the back of my shop for too long and I've neglected that person’s wishes. I seek forgiveness in that regard. And…” Silence fell across them once again, Nozomi’s eyes searching for something that wasn't immediately apparent to Eli as she gazed out the window. Then, a tired laugh sounded from Nozomi’s lips. “Well, I don't think now is the time and the place to admit the other thing that I am seeking.”

Eli’s head titled slightly in her palm, adopting a questioning look. Well, she supposed the former reasoning was definitely sufficient enough. “Well… that’s quite ambitious, you know. It seems like we have that in common.” She stuck the tongs in the grating and rotated the grill, watching as the juices fell and excited the flames. “Do you prefer the beef over the pork, or vice versa?”

“I actually do prefer the beef,” Nozomi said as she looked back to Eli with her usual smile.

The rest of lunch passed into much lighter conversation. Eli learned that Nozomi was two years older than her and that the shop was her fulltime job, though she had been thinking about returning to school with not much plans beyond that. She lived alone and revealed that she didn’t get out too much. Eli asked where she was from, since her Kansai dialect was a large indicator that she definitely wasn’t from Tokyo. She replied that she had come from Kyoto by herself a few years back.

Eli also asked about her witch friend and Nozomi laughed first, in response.

“You met Nico briefly today at the shop, didn’t you? She’s quite possibly the worst witch in the world, but don’t tell her I told you that,” Nozomi answered with an impish smile.

Eli didn’t know what constituted a bad witch, but she couldn’t find any more questions beyond that.

It was Nozomi’s turn to get answers out of her regarding her personal life. Eli admitted to being in her fourth year of her bachelor’s in law and WWVS studies with plans of going into law school.

“WWVS studies?” Nozomi tilted her head into the question, blinking curiously.

“Hm…? Oh, it didn’t occur to me…” Eli stopped mid sentence, adopting a sheepish smile. “Right. It’s the department dedicated to the study of witches, werewolves, vampires, and species variant people, though I do have my qualms with the title in its own. But it’s what we’ve been calling it. It’s a social science, essentially.”

Nozomi nodded slowly as she absorbed the information. “I see… I wasn’t even aware that there was an entire major dedicated to it. It seems like I still have a lot left to learn. I’ve been out of the loop for so long…”

“Then we can start catching you up sooner rather than later, right?” Eli rested her chin on the back of her intertwined fingers, smiling a little.

“Mn!” Nozomi beamed back. “I’ll do my best!”

* * *

The sōzu slapped sharply against the rock, funneling clear water into its stone container. The stone lantern, the small collection of softly glowing jack-o-lanterns, and the moonlight above provided ample lighting for reading her textbook, a notebook alongside it. Quite recently she had grown accustomed to studying with the company of the beautiful garden that her and her parents put a lot of pride and joy into.

In addition to other company as well. Hanayo turned to wake up her laptop, glancing at the display’s time that read 20:45. She had been out here since the sun fell, feeling a yawn coming on as she stretched out and starting thinking about plans for turning in.

A flicker of movement at the corner of her eye quickly caught her attention as she paused mid-stretch. She blinked, frozen as she tried to gauge what it was she thought she had seen. Not a moment later, another blur of shadows unmistakably darted across the far side of the yard and Hanayo squeaked in surprise, her laptop sliding off of her lap as she jumped and lunged for it in the same notion.

Barely able to save the device from meeting its early demise, Hanayo traded places with her laptop, coming to a stand quickly.

She tensed as the shadow peaked out from the bushes and bounded out. She felt herself relax with relief as she recognized her old friend–a big spotted bobcat. She beamed as he neared, purring happily at her.

“Oh! It’s just you,” Hanayo meekly stated. She smiled widely as he smothered his head into her side. She giggled and ruffled at his soft fur, his purring so loud that she could feel him vibrate against her palms. “I didn’t think you’d come today. It was getting so late.” She nuzzled her face into his neck, rejoicing in the comforting warmth that radiated from him.

In fact, she had very much thought that for quite a few months, becoming so worried about him that she started to assume the worst. After all, the circumstances that she met him under warranted her apprehension. Hanayo had to work quickly through fear and tears in order to care for the injured and weak animal that had stumbled into her life. Since that time, he came and went as he pleased. She would have liked to think that they had created a close bond. At the very least, she would have liked to call what they had a friendship. He had never given her a reason to believe otherwise.

Except he had disappeared from her life for almost a year, finding that she had become quite lonely in that time. She had never been good at making friends, being so painfully shy and unimpressionable. It wouldn’t be a far stretch to say that she had constantly been hoping that he would return. It made her realize that she really had very little meaningful relationships, her crippling social anxiety her only companion.

But animals and pets didn’t need you to hold conversations or worry about speaking out of turn. They were the most ready to give love and make someone really feel like they were needed.

The longer that passed, however, the more that she started to question things. Hanayo had done some research online of any wild bobcats in the area, thinking that her friend certainly did match them more than any other cat. They certainly didn’t roam in the wild there, and his sheer size also wasn’t something to ignore as well. She just rationalized it as an animal that may have gotten loose from a zoo or something. Though the fact that he hadn’t been captured and returned all this time was impressive in its own regard.

She would have been content with that answer had it not been for college. When she started, Hanayo found a natural attraction to the studies of witches, werewolves, vampires and such. The more she learned, the more she wondered…

It couldn’t be. He didn’t exhibit any behavior that she would consider something of an animal of higher intelligence that would characterize a wereanimal. And so she dismissed the thought for another time.

Even now, as he rolled onto his side and stretched out lazily, there truly was no way. He flexed his claws out and watched her pointedly.

She started to scratch at his ears, content. Then, she remembered what she had wanted to show him. “Oh! I made something!” Hanayo brightened and turned to pick up one of the pumpkins, showing it to the cat. It was a cartoony carving of a feline face, meowing out adorably. “It’s you!”

He sat up a little to sniff at it, running his scratchy tongue on it a few times. She giggled. “I take it that you like it then. I’ve never made one that was this complicated, so I’m glad that it turned out so well.”

Hanayo placed it behind her, turning back to the cat as he offered out his stomach to her. She rubbed at his belly, smiling to herself. “I’m glad to see you’re doing okay… I’ve been okay too. I think.” She sat up a little, her hand retreating as she adopted a troubled yet distant look. “I mean… things are fine, but there are things going on now that are really scary…”

The cat rolled back over, softly headbutting her side to get her to continue petting him. Amidst her troubles, she really couldn’t help but feel a rush of unadulterated affection towards him at just how adorable he was.

Hanayo reached to pet at his head, cupping handfuls of fur around his cheeks before moving to scratch at his ears. The cat’s eyes narrowed, adopting that sleepy look that told her he was content. “People have started to become really angry recently. A man got attacked, and people are pointing the blame towards werewolves, saying that they need more rules to control and monitor them…”

The bobcat blinked slowly back at her, his eyes opening less and less each time as she worked her fingers through his fur. He pushed forward and collapsed his large head onto her lap, rubbing the back of his head against her stomach.

“But that’s not fair. One bad person doesn’t represent everyone else,” she continued, wrapping her arms around his form as best as she could, which just about meant simply draping her arms on him in a sort-of-hug. “I know why they’re saying things like that. They’re all just scared and trying to do something, and that’s okay, but not at the expense of someone else’s safety.”

After a moment of feeling and listening to the vibrations of his purring, she sighed and sat up a little. “There were people at school today… as I was going to lecture.” The near memory of it started to bring tears to her eyes, but she tried not to cry. She had done enough of it today. “They started talking down to me about what I studied, saying that I shouldn’t waste my time with it… and a bunch of terrible things about those people. The werewolves and vampires, I mean…”

Her friend fell very still, save for the rising and falling of his body as he breathed.

“I… I tried to ignore them, but it was just… so hard. I tried to reason that they’re people too, but they didn’t care…” She resumed stroking softly at his pelt, looking dejected. “Luckily they didn’t do anything but say those things, but I was hardly able to pay attention in class as a result of it.”

The bobcat rolled onto his back, shifting to stare up at her.

Hanayo sighed hopelessly, her hands return to her lap and taking a moment for herself before her eyes drew to her books. “...I still want to stay in the program and learn. I don’t want to be like those people and think the worst of someone even though they know so little about them. I just…” She hugged herself, visibly troubled. “I’m scared that something will happen. I-I mean, I can’t imagine how a vampire might be feeling now, so I shouldn’t be so preoccupied with my own safety, because I can’t possibly have it as bad as them… I just…”

Her friend ceased his purring, staring after her for a long time. He clumsily rolled to stand, pushing his nose against her hair and ruffling it before he turned suddenly and darted away, shooting through the yard.

Hanayo’s heart fell as she stared after where her only friend had vanished into the night.

* * *

A few clouds dotted the mid-day sky while the sun was nearing its highest point in the day. Accompanied by Rin, Eli made her way to her next lecture, bookbag hanging from her shoulder. Her mind drifted between her studies and her next plans to go see Nozomi. It seemed as if her daily routine began to consist of that recurring theme. When would it be convenient to drop by? How often could she see her without making Nozomi suspicious of other intentions than that of friendship anyway? It was a tricky balance that she had no experience with navigating.

She pondered those questions before her eyes landed on her sister beside her. Rin didn’t have to attend this next class with her. In fact, she was taking no classes at all since she was busy with a modest job at a small retail store. And since she couldn’t recall what sort of education she had before she stumbled into the lives of the Sonoda pack, she took to studying in her spare time in hopes of taking college entrance exams at a later date.

So she found that it was pretty peculiar for Rin to want to go to one of her lectures. It was true that her classes were interesting, but Eli couldn’t help but wonder if there was another motivation behind Rin’s decision. Regardless, she wouldn’t say no to her, so they walked along together, approaching the department’s main lecture hall.

A group of people congregated out front—a restless, tense air about them as they stood vigilantly behind posters and petitions. Eli had a feeling that they weren’t here for the afternoon lecture.

News of the attack on an anti-were rights politician spread quick. With it, an increasing number of bold protests started to pick up wind around the social science school—right in the center of the WWVS major facilities. Today, instead of a chorus of harmless chanting that called shame upon the WWVS students and the program supporters, there was an increased severity of verbal confrontation between individual students.

Eli bit the inside of her lip as she stopped to survey the scene wordlessly. She now had an inkling of the reason why Rin had accompanied her today. But how in the world had she heard about something like this? Her eyes gravely turned towards Rin, who—to her surprise—was looking searchingly through the protestors, focused on finding something that wasn’t immediately apparent.

“Rin… you knew about this?” She inquired slowly.

Her sister simply nodded, serious determination furrowing her brow and a frown at her lips. Then, her eyes widened as she froze where she stood. Eli looked back and forth quickly to where Rin’s attention was held. “Rin?”

Without a word, Rin darted forward straight into the crowd of people, causing Eli to flinch reflexively. “Wait!” Eli called and shot after her, carefully shouldering after her and dodging anyone in the way of her path with an inhuman quickness. Then, as suddenly as she had sprinted forward, Eli slid to a rocky halt, very nearly crashing straight into Rin’s back. She looked over Rin’s shoulder, her hands clenching tightly at her sides.

A line of students barred the entrance to the lecture hall, holding megaphones and wearing shirts denoting their anti-WWVS sentiments. A woman barring the door and holding a sign under one arm was pointing accusingly at a single cowering student, who seemed to take the bulk of her berating in front of a group of uncertain and confused students. There wasn’t another moment lost as Rin stepped in between the woman and the girl she was antagonizing, much to Eli’s astonishment.

“Hey! You leave her alone! She hasn’t done anything to you!” Rin shouted and held her ground, causing the woman, who had gone uncontested until this moment, to recoil slightly.

“We won’t rest until this major is dissolved! There isn’t enough room in this society for killers and monsters, let alone in the center of my university!” The woman roared back, a chorus of approval sounding with her from all around. “We’ve had enough of living in fear! This isn’t fair and something has to change! We’re taught to bow our heads and accept things as they are, but I won’t! You’re against us if you support this program and we won’t stand down! This movement has to start right here, right now!”

Eli’s jaw tightened as she pressed her teeth together. She wasn’t sure of how to dissolve the tension of the gathering without escalating the situation further.

“You’re not fixing anything by yelling in people’s faces and scaring them! If anything, you’re the one that’s a monster!” Rin exclaimed back, much to the chagrin of the protesting woman. Voices of unrest rose in volume, some of the WWVS students finding a backbone due to Rin’s boldness and joining in the verbal brigade.

“Just let us through!”

“Move out of the way!”

“No, you stay back!”

“Don’t touch me!”

Eli’s ears were ringing.

Everything became a blur as someone pushed forward, one of the people barring the door shoved to the ground in a domino effect of movement that had the whole crowd sputter out into chaos.

Just then, the wailing of sirens nearby and the flashing of police lights pierced through the air. There were officers upon the gathering as people began to break off out of fear of a higher institutional discipline and ducked away. Eli pushed up to Rin’s side, who had the girl she had shielded from the protesters pulled close to her, her fingers wrapped tight around the girl’s wrist. No one was being apprehended, but Eli didn’t want to stick around much longer and neither did Rin, judging by the worry on her face. The girl had tears streaming down her face, her glasses slightly crooked as she repeatedly wiped at her cheeks.

The three of them managed to wrestle away from the crowd, much to Eli’s relief. They stopped on the other side of the humanities building, silent relief shared between them as they were finally away from the mess.

Rin hadn’t let go of the girl’s wrist. She sighed and stopped, angling her head towards the crying girl, shuffling where she stood back and forth between her two feet as she kept her eyes averted to everything but her face. Rin loosened her fingers from around the girl’s wrist and pulled her own hands behind her back meekly.

Eli got a good look at the girl for the first time and was taken aback by how cute she was, despite her blotchy cheeks and red nose. She had honest lavender eyes and short auburn hair. Eli looked curiously to Rin, whose body language had gone almost completely rigid. Was she nervous...? Was she the reason why Rin had accompanied her today? Who was this girl?

“Um… are you... okay?” Rin inquired softly towards to girl from under her breath, as though she didn’t really want Eli to hear. Despite everything, a tint of amusement filtered through Eli as she watched Rin.

When the girl tried to speak, it had sounded as if she had lost her voice, the small croak a far cry from speech. Eli felt her heart ache over the very sight and could only imagine how Rin must have felt. The girl continued to wipe at her face, now with both of her sleeves, slipping under her glasses to catch the remaining moisture. Setting them right on her nose, she finally brought her puffy eyes to her savior. She attempted to clear her throat if not to try and talk now. “I… I’m okay,” she said softly, barely audible. The girl looked between the both of them, her eyes stopping on Eli in what she interpreted as recognition—nothing beyond that of frequent classmates—before she returned to Rin, her eyes watering as she beamed in gratitude. “You… you helped me back there,” she continued gently, sniffling.

“Y-yeah, you looked like you could've used some help. What they were doing back there was really mean… sorry for not being there sooner. I could have just helped you through to class, but I think things were gonna get bad anyway,” Rin said, one of her hands raising to brush through her hair nervously. “I-I’m Hoshizora Rin. And this is Ayase Eli!”

For a moment it looked like she was ready to cry again, but the girl quickly lowered her head in a deep bow. “I’m… K-Koizumi Hanayo!” she said stiffly. “Thank you so much for coming to my rescue!”

Rin jumped at the notion, shaking her head and hands in front of her furiously. “H-hey, no need to be so formal, nya! A-anyone would have done it…”

Hanayo stood back up slowly, squeezing her folded hands together and offering them a weak smile. “I don’t have any way to repay you…”

Eli stepped forward then, shaking her head. “You don’t have to do anything.” That caused the girl’s eyes to widen. “It truly lies within the responsibility of the student association and the faculty to make this campus as welcoming as possible. To create an atmosphere of learning and acceptance should be a priority in an institution of higher learning such as this. It’s simply unacceptable that there are future leaders of our country that are so close-minded…” Already she was thinking of ways to address this at their next meeting, though it was difficult to find something reasonable to do in that moment. She was still outraged by the display, ensuring that she wasn’t going to be thinking logically for a little longer.

“Y-yeah. It’s easy for me to tell you not to worry about it, but I’ll protect you in the meantime,” Rin said. Some of her nervousness slipped away to determination.

Hanayo held Rin’s eyes for a long moment, beginning to choke up with emotion. Eli interjected before she could answer. “So will I. I’ll work hard to make sure this doesn’t happen again.” It was the least she could do, feeling as if she had a direct part in what had happened since there had been so little attempts to harbor more acceptance on campus. When she had to predominantly hide her identity from her peers and staff, it made it a lot more difficult to bring those issues to light. There was virtually no representation for non-humans on the student executive board, and so it made it extremely difficult to bring up those issues without earning disfavor among them and the student body. It was simply too confidential to discuss.

Rin’s wide eyes met Eli’s, a smile lighting them. “Thanks, Eli-chan! See, everything’s gonna be okay, nya~!” She turned back to Hanayo, practically vibrating in excitement, having completely gone to ease with Eli’s support.

Hanayo could only nod, going to rub at her eyes again. “Thank you… you two…” she said through a cracking voice. “Thank you.”


	5. The Fates that Bind Us

Afternoon was winding down into evening. Umi had kept in contact with her sisters all day after hearing about the incident at the social sciences school, her stress levels through the roof as tensions all around her were strung high. News outlets and school paper reporters were crawling everywhere trying to get a scoop.

Umi knew that she was an ideal interviewee as an out werewolf from a popular and politically involved family, making sure that she dodged crowded areas and took detours that weren’t out in the open unless it was absolutely necessary until she had completely left campus. Even then, she heard the footsteps of pursuit following remarkably close behind on occasion. But when she looked, there was no one on her tail that she could see.

If it wasn’t someone who wanted to document her reaction to the social events as of late, then Umi didn’t really care who it was. She went and met up with Honoka and began the trek home with her, mentally exhausted.

Despite anything going on around her, though, Honoka still inadvertently managed to keep her cheery exterior, chatting freely about the things on her mind. None of it had to do with what had occurred earlier in the day, but that was what she would have expected from Honoka in any case. Ever the optimist, something like that would not weigh as heavily on her as it did on Umi. She attempted to keep up with her antics as she normally would, but it was obvious that the incident still plague Umi’s mind. Honoka didn’t push for anything, though, and for that she was grateful. The walk was relatively quiet.

Even with her attention glued to her phone as she constantly refreshed the newsfeed and her mind mostly focused on getting home as soon as she could, Umi noticed the fluttering of wings at the corner of her eye. She turned her head towards the trees, catching sight of a familiar perched owl. The frequency of the bird’s appearances had long surpassed that of mere chance and crossed into the territory of blatant intention. There was definitely something off about this creature.

She put her phone away in her bag as the bird turned away and dodged from tree to tree. She began to walk out towards it, the pattern of its flying becoming wild and erratic as it shot up and over a building and out of sight.

“Umi-chan? What’s up?” Honoka called questioningly after her, but Umi didn’t answer. Umi’s eyes widened as she kicked off into a sprint, running after the owl. This animal _knew_ that she had caught onto it. It was trying to break her line of sight.

“It’s been following me, I know it! Go on without me!” Umi called over her shoulder, training her eyes on where she had lost sight of the bird.

Behind her, Honoka was following suit, shouting for her to wait up, but she was zoning in on the pursuit. Umi shot out into the street as her eyes were drawn up to the skies, the subtle movement of flapping wings up high once again catching her attention as she dodged out of the way of an oncoming truck with ease. She weaved through the busy sidewalks, causing looks of confusion and rude remarks to shoot her way, but she disregarded them.

She vaulted over the hood of a parked car on the other side of the street and found herself surrounded with the high walls of an alleyway. At the end of the it, a tall chain link fence blocked off the exit. She wasn’t deterred. She pressed on, pushing off of the ground as she leaped up to the fence, clearing more than half of its height—about two and a half meters—as she grabbed onto a handful of metal links and climbed up the rest of the way. She landed on the other side with a graceful thud as she touched off the floor with her hand. She caught sight of the bird circling the sky a block away.

Umi turned the corner of the block after running the rest of the length along the sidewalk, panting as she looked up almost directly ahead to the bird that was still circling. So, it wasn’t trying to run anymore? She looked down, scanning the sidewalk and in between people in one sweep before her immediate attention was stolen by a sudden flinch of movement as someone sitting at an outside cafe ducked behind a tall folding menu.

Umi stared, her eyes narrowing and brows furrowing. The menu slowly slid down as a pair of caramel eyes met her own before it snapped back up. Umi could hear the squeak of surprise from here.

Umi’s face fell in horror.

It was the flower girl from that night.

But why here and now?

Against her better mind, Umi found herself walking up to the iron grate fence of the outside cafe, stopping as soon as she was standing just before the girl’s table on the other side. She simply stared, her head shaking as she tried to muster up the words. The girl was still trying to hide from her. It was a bit comical, watching how rigid she went as she insisted on the protection of the menu to separate the two of them.

The girl must have known it was her from the other night. There was no doubt about it.

Umi’s anxieties began to wash some sense into her as she shook her head and stepped back. She was scared of Umi. She swallowed hard past the knot in her throat, her heart beating wildly in her chest. She knew she shouldn’t have bothered.

She must have been standing there for long enough debating the morality of the situation when the girl finally peaked over the menu, deliberately inspecting her before their eyes met again.

If Umi was dreading this encounter before, then now she was incomprehensibly terrified. The small acknowledgement made her recoil as she remembered that night—still fresh in her memory because of how often she mentally revisited those brief moments. She was terrified because she knew she wanted so badly to go against her better nature and get to know this girl because Umi felt _that_ sort of shameful attraction towards her.

Umi didn’t have the opportunity to introduce herself and set herself as a reasonable, commendable person before she saw the real her—saw her as the destructive monster that she was sure she had accidentally painted herself out to be. She had already ruined everything between them before they shared a single word.

Umi expected to see her dread reflected in her, a telltale sign that what could have been was a far cry away from what was possible now.

What she did not expect was to be met with a kind, warm smile. Albeit slightly sheepish as well, it was still a smile all the same.

Very nearly losing all of her will, Umi would have made to run the other direction for her own sanity had it not been for her limbs betraying her as she stood frozen in place. She had to say something, right?

“I-I… I’m sorry… about the other night. I didn’t mean to scare you and if I did, you have every right to never forgive me and scorn every last werewolf on this planet because if I wasn’t able to ensure you that I meant no harm as someone who constantly strives for that goal, then my efforts have been wasted… so please, accept my apology and you will never see me again.” The words came tumbling out, her head bowing low as she folded her hands in front of her and put her shoulders into the motion.

The girl folded the menu slowly and set it down. A moment passed as Umi remained rigid in her bow. It couldn’t have been more than a few seconds, though the silence felt like minutes to her.

“You... certainly did surprise me, I won’t deny that,” she said with a light tone, seemingly not at all perturbed by the gravity of Umi’s words. Her voice was sweet—Umi couldn’t have imagined a more beautiful voice for her “But I knew there was something about you that I may have overlooked when presented with something at face-value. So, I’m afraid that if I accept your apology, I will not have the chance to see more of what you’re capable of accomplishing.”

Umi brought her head up slowly, searching the girl’s eyes for some sort of otherworldly presence, for it wasn’t everyday that she met a normal human that wanted to know more about her other than the physicality of her abilities. “...Is that why you have been watching me? The owl is your friend, is it not?” She inquired, pulling the pieces together slowly.

The girl leaned chin on her palms, nodding and putting on a blindingly bright smile. “Sorry it had to work out like this. I just wanted to know more, so I had him follow you after you had left…”

“I see…” Umi came up to the spider web-decorated fence, placing her palms on the top of it that just barely went up to her hips.

The girl looked thoughtful for a brief moment before her eyes returned to Umi. “Hey, you were playing, weren’t you? It seemed like the both of you were having a lot of fun. I can’t fault you for that, now can I?”

So she really was curious. Umi desperately wished her heart would stop beating so loudly. Could she hear it from there? “I was just scolding Honoka… she’s a slow runner because she eats too much junk.” Admittedly, it was a little fun. “But I destroyed all of your flowers… you could most definitely fault me.” It wasn't intentional, of course, but the fact of the matter was that it happened. She had every right to villainize her.

The girl shook her head, smiling all the while. “You didn’t mean to, so I won’t hold it against you. It was harmless fun. Flowers grow back, but memories last a lifetime.”

There was no way that someone like her was real, right?

Umi was quiet, stunned to silence for a moment. She couldn't gather for anything else to say, save for—”I’m Sonoda Umi.”

She came to a stand, smoothing down her dress and placing one hand upon the other and bowing. “Minami Kotori. It’s nice to meet you.”

Minami Kotori. She had such a pretty name.

“And, umm… I hope I’m not wasting your time or anything… but I have something for you...” She went to reach in her purse, surfacing a small red bag. She took them and stepped towards Umi, who was still very much stunned to silence. “I love making candles. Did you know that certain fragrances can affect your emotions? When I started studying components, I learned that some of the ingredients can be made into candles for different daily uses. These particular ones are rose and sandalwood scented for relieving anxiety and anger, and it also increases confidence.” She fiddled with the bag for a moment before extending it towards her. “Please consider taking them!”

Umi looked down at the gifts, flabbergasted. “A-are you sure? You probably worked hard on these and you're giving them away to a stranger…”

“I… I made them for you,” she confessed, hugging them close for a moment before extending them towards her again. “In the event that I met you, I wanted to give them to you…”

These were for her? Umi hesitantly reached out, receiving them with wide eyes and a faint tint at her cheeks. “Really?” She had this planned the entire time? Umi felt her face burn in embarrassment as she imagined Kotori thinking about her in the same manner that Umi had been thinking about her. But that was much too hopeful. It just wasn’t possible. “Thank you very much… that’s so kind of you… the fact that you would go out of your way to do that for me…”

Kotori simply put her hands behind her back and beamed at her. She had such a lovely smile. “I feel as if I was inspired by you, Sonoda-san. You see, you were so brave that night, not possibly knowing what the outcome could have been, just to prove to me that not all werewolves were bad, after all. And honestly, I would have gone on thinking that had it not been for what you did. The Sonoda family has been trying to make others see that for generations, haven’t they? You just want to make a difference and change people’s minds... just like the Minami family...”

The Minami family? She had _definitely_ heard that name before. It was impossible to mistake as Umi put the pieces together slowly. So, she had an owl that followed her commands, she mentioned something about studying components, she was collecting flowers at a strange time of night when Umi had met her, and she partook in some sort of spiritual candle making. Of course she knew that the Minami family was…

Umi swallowed hard, her face paling considerably as she realized how wrong this all was. “Your family...they’re witches…”

Witches and werewolves were mortal enemies. Her father would _kill_ her if he found out that Kotori was talking with her.

“Umi-chaaaaan!”

Honoka had finally caught up, the smallest bit of panic in her voice. “What the heck just happened? Why did you run off?”

Umi turned to her, the shock still evident on her face as she brought her eyes to her. Honoka came to a stop in front of her, having to pause to catch her breath with her hands on her thighs and her head hanging. “Honoka…” Umi said slowly, still processing what was going on. “Please excuse my behavior from before. I was finding out—”

Her words were halted in her throat as she turned around and saw that the cafe table was vacant. The chair was even pushed in as if no one had been there in the first place. Umi’s eyes darted around, perplexed by how she managed to disappear without the slightest trace. She looked up to see if the owl was still overhead, but she was only met with clouded skies.

“Finding out what?” Honoka asked, head tilted with a look of worry on her face.

Umi swallowed, now encountered with the fact that it looked like she was losing her mind. Lost as to what to say, her brows furrowed and she looked away, her back to Honoka. “I suppose it was nothing after all,” she resigned to saying, hating that she had to lie to her out of fear of judgement.

Honoka stared after her for a moment before she moved to peak around Umi, looking down to her hands. Her expression was still questioning. “And what are those…?”

Damn! Umi made quick work of tugging the small gift away into her bag, trying to come up with something that didn’t sound absurd. Honoka had already taken a few sniffs before Umi put them out of sight, and she hummed, her face screwing up in thought. “Roses… and sandalwood?” she said curiously.

Umi cursed Honoka’s abilities to selectively use her excellent attributes at the most unbefitting times. She was practically a walking dictionary of scents with how accurate her nose was.

She turned to Honoka rigidly, biting at the inside of her cheek. “Candles… I left them here earlier today,” she stated simply, having to resort to another lie. How could she ever she tell Honoka that a witch gave them to her?

“And… the thing following you?” Honoka asked next, looking up and around.

“It must have been my imagination.” The answer didn’t satisfy either of them, but when Umi stepped off with conviction in her steps, Honoka could only scratch at her head in confusion before starting off after her.

* * *

It was late afternoon by the time Eli and Rin walked Hanayo all the way home, providing her with company and light conversation to keep their minds off of the events that had occurred earlier that day.

Thinking back on the declarations that her and Rin made, Eli had the thought that it must have been that wolfen, instinctual side of her that made it so easy to offer her aid and protection. Hanayo made the decision all the more simple. As they talked, Eli learned that Hanayo was indeed a very sweet girl, finding admiration in her gentle kindness. She couldn’t help having the desire to aid and defend her. Someone with her innocence needed to be protected.

They said their final goodbyes and traded some contact information, making plans for seeing one another again. Hanayo was more than grateful for their company and promises, still very much emotional over how much compassion her and Rin showed to her. So it was on a very sweet note that they finally parted from her, starting down the sidewalk in relative silence.

The moment she knew they were out of earshot of Hanayo’s home, Eli finally surfaced the question that she had wanted to ask since this entire thing had started. “Rin, how do you know her when she doesn’t know you?”

Rin stiffened in surprise at the suddenness of the question, her eyes darting around as she fumbled for words. “Uh… um… wh-what makes you think that I know her, nya?”

Eli frowned and stepped in front of Rin, stopping the both of them under the shade of a tree. Eli scrutinized her, knowing full well that she was hiding something simply based on her body language. She wasn’t angry with her, by any means, but she looked upon Rin with disappointment birthed from a lack of trust. “You somehow knew that those protests were going on today, and you specifically stood up for that girl. Not to mention that when we were away from the crowd, you looked about ready to dart because of some sort of predisposition you have with her.”

Rin couldn’t meet the intensity of Eli’s gaze. She folded her hands behind her meekly. “... so it was that obvious?”

“Maybe not to anyone else.” Eli’s shoulders relaxed and she adopted a more concerned look. By the end of it all, Rin was still family to her, and the fact that she was trying to keep something from her meant that either she thought she needed to handle it alone or that she thought that she would be judged by those dearest to her. She couldn’t tell which one hurt more. Had she not shown her unwavering dedication to her family as much as she thought she did? “You can always confide in me, Rin. You know that, right?”

Rin hesitated, her eyes slowly coming to meet Eli’s. She had a furrow at her brow and a sad smile. “I know, Eli-chan… I just didn’t know how to put it… I mean, I don’t think it would’ve made sense until you saw Hanayo-chan.” She turned away briskly, her shoulders squeezing together before she relaxed her body and gave out a long, shaky exhalation. “You see… before Honoka-chan found me all those years ago… Hanayo-chan helped to take care of me.”

Eli had to stop herself from gasping, eyes widening slightly. Rin had never mentioned recalling anything prior to that moment that she entered their lives. As far as her and her sisters were concerned up until now, Rin’s first few memories were with them.

“I didn’t know who or what I was. All I knew was what my animal instincts led me to believe. Back then, I had forgotten the human part of me completely and I was in my cat form every hour of the day. Hanayo found me, fed me, and helped clean me up. She ended up telling me almost everything about her,” Rin paused, a soft giggle leaving her. “For all she knows, I couldn’t understand her, but she still talked to me regardless. Always. Hanayo-chan helped me to realize that I was a person again because she would just… talk. She talked about stuff like mothers and fathers and family and her living her normal life and she made me realize that I wanted that, too. A normal life. Then I realized I could! Because if I could understand her, then what did that mean for me?

“She told me about her schoolwork… werewolves and history and that stuff you’re studying. I realized that I was a werecat! I don’t remember how it was that I was locked in a feral state of mind, but I know she helped to get me out.” Rin brightened up at the memories, her eyes scanning the horizon thoughtfully. Then, her shoulders slumped, some of that light in her dimming. “When I realized that, I left her because I was scared—scared that she’d be angry at me since she’d shared a lot about herself when she thought she was talking to a regular cat. And I was also scared because… well, she thought I was a boy. I can understand how it looks when I’m in my cat form, you know? We can’t help the way that we’re born. But I couldn’t tell her that I was actually a girl and that made me feel awful. So I ran. And that’s when Tsuruya’s pack found me…”

Eli knew the rest of the story, of how Honoka had found an injured werecat in their territory and had brought her back to the rest of them. Her hands clenched involuntarily at her sides.

“I still visit her, actually. I know I hurt her when I left her hanging… when I found her again a year later, she was so worried about me. She said that I was her only friend and I felt even more guilty because I just wanted her to know that I was fine and leave it at that. So, if I continued to erase my humanity when I was around her, then maybe she wouldn’t realize that I was really to blame for abandoning her because I consciously decided to run. But then, the other day she told me that she was afraid she was in some trouble here at school. She wanted to cry and I knew I had to do something to help her because of what she had done for me. I had hurt her enough and I wanted to finally start helping her back. That’s why…” Rin turned back over to Eli, smiling wide. “That’s why I need to protect her, nya~!”

Rin’s enthusiasm wasn’t immediately shared by Eli, who was still searching her with a confused stare. She was trying to calculate exactly what this meant for Rin and their family. It was obvious now that Hanayo was more than just some girl to her. Everything she had witnessed that day made total sense with that new information, from the fierce desire to protect her to the implicit guilt that Rin displayed interacting with her.

The more that she mulled over it, the more clear Eli’s course of action was. “If that’s what you choose to do, then I can’t stop you… and I can only support you in the way that I know how.” Eli’s expression hardened. “What I had told you and her before still stands. If she’s only shown you kindness and understanding… then I’ll do the same with her.” As far as Eli was concerned, that girl was considered family with everything that she’s done for Rin. She only hoped that she could show her own gratitude to Hanayo one day.

“Eli-chaaan~!” Rin exclaimed and before she knew it, Eli was tackled into a tight hug after getting the wind knocked out of her. “Thank you so much! I knew I had to tell you because you promised to help protect Hanayo-chan even before you knew all of this! You’re the best, Eli-chan! I love you so much!”

After her breath returned to her, it only left her again in soft gusts of laughter, hugging Rin back but not with matched ferocity. “H-hey now, someone’s going to see us and think we’re just a pair of weirdos…”

Rin stopped suddenly and withdrew to look at Eli, confused. “Wait, we’re _not_ a pair of weirdos?”

Eli blinked, fishing for something to say but falling incredibly short. Another small laugh left her, covering her sheepish smile with a hand. “Well… in a few ways. I suppose I can’t disagree...”

With a gasp, Rin jumped back with a giant smirk. “You _do_ agree! I gotta tell Honoka-chan and Umi-chan that they’re weirdos too, nya~!”

And with that, Rin broke into a sprint down the road.

Eli reactively moved to follow, but as she watched her take off, there was one more pressing matter that begged attention. She paused for a moment, lips pressing into a thin line before she called out, “Rin?”

Rin came to a skittering halt, looking over her shoulder curiously. “Hmm?”

There was a moment of quiet before Eli’s brows furrowed, smiling sadly. “If there’s anything that I’ve learned about myself, it’s that it worked against me to try and separate myself and what I do from my bestial side.” As much as she may have wanted to, it was more self destructive than it was worth. Eli had come to cultivate a reluctant acceptance for her condition. “You should tell her… sooner than later.”

Rin’s bright expression faltered as she stared back at her. Eli could see her swallow hard from here and turn back forward. “I will…”

This time when Rin darted off, Eli followed after with her own pace.

* * *

“Pardon the intrusion!”

Eli stepped back from the door with a gentle smile as Umi and Honoka entered.

Rin bounded over from the living room and waved furiously towards the two arrivals. “Ready to run, Honoka-chan?!”

Honoka shot up in a rigid stance, eyes instinctively going to Umi first before looking to Rin again. “Umm… yeeaah,” she managed with a forced smile. “It’ll be fuuun…”

Umi crossed her arms sternly and gave Honoka a serious handful of annoyed side eye. “Is that so? You remember what I told you last time you weren't able to keep up? I will make you run next to us in your human form with those short legs of yours until you shape up.”

“Huuwaaaah?! Umi-chan, that's so cruel!” Honoka whined as Rin covered her mouth, muffling her laughter.

“Alright everyone, the tea’s just about ready,” Eli informed the lot of them, closing the door behind them and heading to her kitchen. It was a small, modestly-designed apartment that Eli took a lot of pride in, a certain charming simplicity about it.

The lot of them sat around the table, Umi going off on a lecture to Honoka about how important it was to keep in shape. After a couple minutes of cross-examination as Umi found numerous faults in Honoka’s diet and exercise habits with Rin looking on with a small smile, Eli came out with the tea. She flipped on the television for a pleasant buzz of background noise before she set the tray down onto the table.

Umi slid the sugar cubes away from Honoka on the table, much to her dismay. Rin grabbed a whole handful of cubes as the bowl neared her and dumped them into her tea.

Eli helped herself to just one, noting how Umi would sooner be caught dead than let Honoka get away with adding as much sugar as Rin just did.

Honoka indeed noticed as well, whining out. “Hey, Rin-chan _always_ uses more sugar than I do! Why don’t you scold her?!”

Umi’s attention snapped back towards Honoka. “It’s because she's the fastest out of the four of us and she runs around way more than we do! She can eat whatever she wants!”

It was true that it was easier for a large dog-sized bobcat to get around easier than a seven foot tall werewolf—especially during the day. And now that Eli knew where Rin was more than likely heading off to when she was in her cat form, she realized that Rin did spend significantly more time transformed than the rest of them. It would also explain the fact that her form was still quadrupedal. Eli was still the youngest wereanimal among them, so she was still working on the transition to a bipedal state, though she tended to alternate between standing like she would now and being on all fours in her other form, not quite figuring out which was most comfortable yet. 

Umi told her that connecting with their humanity was just as important as connecting with their bestial side, that fact shown through how much they resembled the posture of a person in their other forms. Getting the right posture was a gradual mental and physical change that Eli had progressed well through and she could see the difference over the short year she had been turned. But Rin... she knew she was a person, now, but Eli questioned how deeply the extent of that ran if she was stunted to a four-legged form.

Eli inspected Rin thoroughly without gathering much attention, her brows furrowing in thought.

What was it like to forget that you were human? How could that happen to someone like Rin, of all people? Did all of this have something to do with her memory loss? She didn't remember anything prior to being with Hanayo, after all.

Having lived with Rin the longest out of everyone else, Eli noticed certain things about her that she wasn't sure if Rin, herself, knew about. Like the hint of a strange brand in the shape of a tiger burned into her lower back just below her waist. Like the scars that peaked out from her shoulder blades and the healed yet slightly mottled skin of her neck, wrists, and ankles—so faint that you couldn't see it until you really looked.

Eli had always had her suspicions. She simply couldn't try and discern more from that. It had taken her so long, as it was, to notice these things about Rin. She was mostly preoccupied with her positive attitude and her excitable energy to notice much else.

When the banter seemed to die down naturally, Eli found herself taking a peek at the television, her tea to her lips. She didn’t manage to get a sip before she read the headline, freezing.

“— _fun Halloween party gone wrong. The victim was none other than representative Hatoyama Tatsuya, who has been revealed to have recently been stabilized from the attack late Saturday night. Reports and eyewitnesses claim that a lone creature, presumed to be a sentient werewolf, ambushed him just outside of his own home amidst a festive celebration._ ”

The images of the injuries flashed across the screen, surely instilling shock and outrage as the man struggled with pain, appearing distraught in every picture as a team attended to him. Immediately Eli looked to Umi, who was engrossed in the report with a deepening look of concern.

“ _Hatoyama sustained teeth and claw injuries that resulted in many bites and lacerations on his body. Motivations behind the targeted attack are still being investigated, but it is suspected that the attack was spurred on by his increasingly popular legislation proposals for a new system that calls for the removal and rehabilitation of vampires, witches, werewol—_ ”

Eli hit the remote power, lips pressed into a thin line. The television died off, leaving them in an uneasy silence. Honoka looked down into her lap, her face falling. Rin idly mixed her tea, a pained expression coming to her face as her eyes dropped, as well.

Umi sat very still. Her gaze hadn't moved from the dark television screen. Her jaw was clenched tight and her hands were balled in her lap.

It was a moment longer before Umi spoke. “I don't think we should go out tonight. My father wouldn’t approve—at least not until we get things figured out,” she started in a serious, low voice.

“Whaaat?! But we always go out on nights like this,” Honoka protested, leaning onto the table and looking to Umi with her brows furrowed.

“I know,” Umi responded softly—tiredly. “But it just isn't safe. It’s so easy to appear a certain way in our other forms—dangerous and frightening—especially when people are looking for excuses and reasons to turn against us out of fear and spite. I don't think we need to be running around and causing more trouble. I’m supposed to be attending a conference on were rights with my father in a couple days, so we just need time to clear this all up. It’s risky, since protesters are supposed to gather and the police will be watching the event closely. My family is doing all that they can now to try and sort out the issue so that all of our work from these past centuries doesn’t get destroyed by one crazy stunt by some loner. Until then, I want you all to be safe.”

Honoka looked about ready to try and reason with her, but before she could get anything out, Eli said, “She’s right.” She placed her cup onto the table, hands fitting around its warm surface. “We’ll have plenty of other nights for that. If anything, we should be focused on maintaining a low profile until these things blow over. It’s also pretty likely that the girl that we saw before has contributed negatively to rumors in the area…”

Umi stood abruptly and turned away from the other three girls, her shoulders pulled together tensely. They all looked up to her, quiet.

“Umi-chan…?” Honoka murmured under her breath.

“I’ll handle everything the best that I can. Promise me you’ll all stay safe. Please,” Umi said suddenly, her voice filled with a strangled emotion that Eli couldn't pinpoint.

Honoka bunched her shoulders together, frowning. “O-Okay…” she said with an uncharacteristic softness. “But… but let me go with you!”

Eli wasn’t the only one to display surprise at the sudden declaration.

Umi turned abruptly, her expression hard. “You can't, Honoka,” she said tersely, immediately realizing the sharpness in her voice as she hesitated and continued in a significantly more reserved tone. “It wouldn't be fair of me to ask anything like that of you.”

Honoka’s expression hardened into determination. “It’s not fair to you if you have to do it alone,” Honoka argued, her fists balling together. “How many times do I need to say that we’re in this together?”

“This is something that I _have_ to do on my own. Someone my _family_ has been doing on their own for centuries! You’re not a Sonoda! This burden shouldn't and won't fall to you!”

Those escalated, frustrated words hung in the air for a long moment, a prickle of discomfort at the turn of conversation raising the hairs on the back of Eli’s neck. Rin was completely still, save for her worried eyes darting back and forth between the other two.

Honoka held Umi’s intense eyes, trying to keep a hard face. It was heartbreakingly obvious when she began to waver, though, her bottom lip quivering and tears stinging at her eyes. She shot up into a stand, mumbling a forced “Please excuse me,” before making a beeline to the door.

Eli stood, calling to her. “Honoka, wait!”

“H-Honoka-chan?” Rin tried to call out as well, coming to a half-stand as she leaned up into the table.

But Honoka didn’t seem to hear any of it. She hopped into her shoes and slipped out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

Umi made to go after her, seeming slow in the realization that she had truly upset her until she was out the door. She stopped, her head bowing and her shoulder and posture deflating to a mere shell of her usual poise.

“Umi-chan… do you really think you're all alone like that?” Rin whispered towards her, settling back down sadly.

“I have to be. It can't be helped,” Umi’s trembling voice came muffled as her back remained turned to Eli and Rin. “There’s a lot at stake here. Honoka doesn't understand.”

“And _we’re_ supposed to understand?” Rin inquired next.

“I think I may be with Honoka on this one,” Eli confessed sternly, brows furrowing at Umi. “Why are you so obsessed with doing this alone? I thought we all moved away from the whole lone wolf thing.”

Umi was absorbed in another spell of silence. She shook her head and walked slowly to the door, stepping down as she began to change into her shoes. “We’re a pack. We’re sisters. I know that. But I have to work and seem a certain way to my father to maintain all of this. I can't disappoint him. That means that I have to protect you all at any cost because if something were to happen to any of you, it will be my fault—no questions asked—and I will not be trusted to be around you all again. I will have tarnished the Sonoda name because I was never meant to be affiliated with you all to begin with.”

Eli stared at Umi’s back, confused. Umi sighed and sat down on the edge of the wood floor, still working her shoes on as she leaned forward over them.

“This was all my choice from the beginning. You see, I’ve known Honoka since we were just children. I was a very lonely kid. I grew up sheltered and protected from the outside world because of what I was. Because of who my family was. I wasn't allowed to play with any other children. I was trapped—always training and practicing to control my abilities away from the rest of the world. Then Honoka came along… she stumbled into my yard one day on accident and she managed to get me to open up, despite how scared I was of her, not having ever been with kids my age. She would sneak into the garden almost every day and we would play for hours when my father was out on business until the sun sank low in the sky.

“My mother caught on to our friendship. She didn't tell my father and even encouraged us to live out our youth playing in the yard. God knows I needed a friend and my mother protected the sanctity of our secret from my father.”

Umi paused, coming to stand and turn towards them, her eyes clouded in a distant memory and her brows knitted together in deep contemplation as she recalled the events. All of this was completely new information to Eli.

“We played almost every day. There were even times where she’d come weak and sickly—” A one-beat laugh lacking substance left Umi. “The idiot. Her health wavered dramatically, but she always tried to make time for me, even when she knew she shouldn't have gotten out of bed that day. Her body was weak—so much weaker than other children her age. But somehow, she always managed to pull through her ailments and return to her usual energetic self by the end of the week. That was… until she didn't.”

Eli’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked to gauge Rin’s reaction—similar to her own.

“Honoka hadn't visited me for a week. I begged my mother to tell me what she knew since she spoke to Honoka’s parents at their home bakery often. She refused and told me not to worry myself, but I persisted. When I had finally convinced her, she told me the truth. She told me that she knew where Honoka was. And she told me that Honoka had fallen deathly ill. This time, she wouldn't make it to the end of the summer.

“I was distraught and depressed. My only friend was dying and I could do nothing about it. My father sat next to me as I stared out into the garden longingly—pained and still with disbelief and fear for Honoka’s wellbeing. He told me that he had known about her all along… he could smell the fresh-baked bread in the yard whenever Honoka came and dropped it off. He knew of the bakery she lived in and the news of her condition. There, he gave me a proposition,” Umi said, her voice steeling. “He said it would be a test to my will and to my conviction to our family—to our cause.

“You know of the remarkable healing abilities that we have—the strength of our bodies. He told me that she would survive if I turned her into a werewolf. But if I did turn her, I was ultimately responsible for her behavior. Responsible for teaching her and raising her as one of our own. He said that if I ever failed her… then that meant that I failed him. I would have produced something that slandered our name instead of preserving it. I had to be careful with her or else I wouldn't be allowed this freedom ever again. He let me enroll in public school because I had proved to be attentive to Honoka and my family's needs as he expected of me. Then, you two came along and I knew I was equally as responsible for you. The same principles of the agreement applied because he's letting me be with the three of you out of that maintained trust.

“That’s why I have to do this alone. I should be the one to protect you all. It’s ingrained into my the nature of my given name to withhold this burden myself. It would be irresponsible to involve you all when there isn't a need for you all to risk so much.”

Eli could certainly see where Umi was coming from, for that sort of responsibility was overbearingly present in everything that she did. She now felt guilt for being a prime factor of Umi’s stress, realizing that Umi had known from the beginning what it would have meant to take her in.

The room fell silent for another moment, an air of contemplation about them as they tried to figure out what was next.

Eli was the one to speak first. “I understand how you feel, Umi,” she started slowly. “You think the best way to fix this is through the influence that only you possess, given your name.” She stared into the table, taking a breath and bawling her fist. “So… do what you must.”

“What?!” Rin questioned, confused that Eli was giving up on this.

Eli shook her head, offering Rin and Umi a sad smile. “I think I’d do the same thing as you in your position. That’s exactly how much I care for your wellbeings, as well. You want to protect us so badly.” Her voice softened towards the end, but she picked up her volume when she addressed Umi directly.

“But I’ll promise you this.” Eli came to stand a few steps from Umi. She turned to face Eli, an expression of slight surprise on her face. “The moment it looks like you can’t do it alone any more—when you look as if you are about to fall—that’s when I will not hesitate with stepping in. I _will_ get directly involved if I see that you cannot handle it on your own.”

Umi looked into Eli’s eyes with an unmatched intensity, her jaw tight as she nodded once. “I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that that day never comes.”

Eli nodded slowly, holding Umi’s eyes with conviction. She saw no evidence of doubt or reluctance in her expression, and that put her at ease somewhat.

“I’m… I’m gonna go check on Honoka-chan,” Rin said from behind them, rising as well. While Umi was a slightly different story, Rin was a lot easier to read, and glancing at her disheartened frown told Eli that she still didn’t entirely agree with the way things unfolded.

The both of them didn’t stop her as Rin quickly pulled on her shoes and left the apartment, leaving the remaining two to silently mull over their decisions.


	6. In the Midst, You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! thanks for checking this out again and thank you especially for the sweet comments and kudos. enjoy!

Joining the crowd of people stepping onto the train platform, Eli was already glancing around in a sea of faces to find a familiar one. While keeping a conscious note of the plethora of scents in the air, she surfaced her phone from her pocket, beginning to pull up her messages to Nozomi.

The train behind her departed and picked up speed swiftly, the wind sweeping through her tied up hair and whisking it to the side. She paid no mind to it, though, tucking blonde strands behind her ear and reading her messages. She discovered from the most recent entries that their meeting place was just beyond the entrance. Nozomi had told her that she was already waiting.

Eli headed over there, wondering why it was that Nozomi decided to meet up here out of all places. It was quite a bit out of the way for the both of them, so it certainly did leave her curious. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t at least a little excited and enticed by the idea of being surprised. Nozomi told her to dress for comfort, after all.

Eli cleared the front of the station, squinting slightly at the beaming sun overhead. She placed a hand up to her brows as she scanned her surroundings, stepping clear of the other exiting patrons.

“Eli-san!” A familiar voice commanded her attention as she turned and saw Nozomi standing in some shade across the way. A reflexive smile came to her lips as she strided towards her.

“Good afternoon, Toujou-san,” she said when she neared and politely bowed her head.

“Good afternoon to you too,” Nozomi replied, albeit very formal as she bowed to her, in turn. Eli tilted her head just a bit. Something told her that Nozomi was just making fun of how formal she sounded. “Are you ready?” Nozomi tilted her head and pinched her shoulders together animatedly, smiling back.

Eli nodded and gave her a smile, falling in step with Nozomi at her side. She had to resist asking about their destination, having a feeling that she wouldn’t tell her where they were headed anyway. The reveal was going to happen so soon, anyway. A little patience never hurt anyone.

They engaged in idle, amiable conversation as Nozomi led the way down the crowded sidewalk.

“We're here,” Nozomi announced gently.

Eli looked up and around, her brows raising and a childlike excitement filling her heart. People stood under numerous Halloween decorations as they funneled into lines for tickets into the amusement park. “How fun! This is what you had in mind?”

Nozomi nodded and folded her hands behind her back as she fell into line. “It is a bit out of the way, but I love this sort of thing. It’s been a long time since I've been to a place like this.”

“Well, we’ll see if it’s as fun as you remember it being.” Eli’s eyes were trained ahead, looking past the entrance and catching a glimpse of some spinning contraption that must have been one of the rides.

It was quite overwhelming when they finally stepped into the park. Eli didn’t know what she ought to focus on first: the irresistibly aromatic sweets filling the air, the theatrical Halloween themed characters posing for pictures, the screams and shouts of joy on the rides…

“So… what to do first?” Nozomi said into a park map next to her. “Since it's the season, how about a haunted house?” A sly grin curled her lips as she looked up to Eli’s wide eyes.

“Oh,” Eli said in a higher register than usual. “That’s a strong start, don’t you think?” she reasoned, trying to hide her dread behind a forced smile. “We should try some skill games, or a low-stress ride that doesn’t have nauseating spinning…”

“Ah! You’re right!” Nozomi nodded as she folded the map and put it away. “We should do them at night when it's much scarier, right?”

That was not what she would have recommended—not even in a million years. “We can certainly talk about it when it gets darker, right?” Eli tried to laugh it off, though she felt like she sounded more nervous than anything.

“I suppose…” There was a pause as Nozomi gave her a long, contemplative look and a knowing smirk before she led the way into the park. “How about a water ride, then?”

After deciding a course of action for the day, they set off excitedly. There was plenty to do and plenty of time to chat in between waiting for lines and sitting on the rides themselves.

They took a break from exploring and ride-hopping, finding a place to sit in front of a large aquarium that lined the walls of a dark room. The lights from inside of the tanks gave off an ethereal glow that was both calming and captivating. It was busy enough for them to hold their conversation hushedly without anyone really listening to them. Nozomi freely asked questions as they came to her—her curiosity seemingly bottomless. Nozomi asked, “Does your pack have a hierarchy like wolves do in the wild?”

“I think it’s quite important to have a hierarchal system whether you’re in a pack or not,” Eli began, shrugging and smiling. “A common misconception of wolves is this idea that they’re constantly fighting their way to the alpha position, and the youngest and strongest wins. While there are leaders in packs, they’re not borne from a leader-follower sense. The leaders are the parents, and the other members are their pups. The reality for us, as well, is that we’re just a family. I don’t think we necessarily need a designated leader, so we don’t have one.

“That doesn’t mean that we don’t look to one another for guidance. We follow Umi to steel our bodies and minds, and we look to Honoka for her innate skills in her senses, be it physically or emotionally. And Rin’s energy keeps us on our toes and moving forward since Honoka gets lazy and Umi is a bit strict sometimes. And so, as the oldest, they tend to turn to me for my wisdom, though it feels like I learn so much more from them.” She laughed softly. In one way or another, they all made her feel like a kid again with their wereanimal experience. In terms of her werewolf age, she could still be seen as a figurative toddler. “So, there is structure, but not in the way one might think.”

Nozomi nodded, her body leaning towards Eli’s on the bench as she listened intently. “What’s it like to transform?”

Eli eyed Nozomi, her hand brushing the back of her neck in thought. “Shifting…” Eli paused, her lips pressing in a thin line as she contemplated how to describe it. “First and foremost, we don’t need full moons to shift. That came from pop culture, really. We will it to happen, but if you’re newer to it, it can be easy for instinct to take you and spiral out of control.”

Eli had to pause for a long moment, closing her eyes and breathing through her nose. “There’s a feral spirit that lurks within us that we have to learn to channel. Doing so almost feels like lighting a fire inside of yourself. Your skeletal and muscular structure changes very rapidly, which is probably the worst part. Every part of your body evolving into something else before your eyes is overwhelming. Umi’s been teaching me how to navigate around it, and I’d say that it’s still a work in progress for me. After all, she’s done it her whole life while I’ve only been able to control it for only a small fraction of that time.”

It couldn’t have been more than a year and a half ago that she met Umi, coming to her rescue to try and quell the anxieties that manifested themselves around her bestial side. “We find free nights each week to go out and practice, honing ourselves to sharpen our senses and become stronger. I’ve come a long way with Umi's help. I believe my newest record for my transformation is three minutes.”

A hum of acknowledgment sounded from Nozomi, her eyes drawing up to a passing school of fish as she digested everything she was told.

Eli took the amicable silence to cross her legs and angle herself more towards Nozomi. She found herself asking, “How was it that you knew that I was a werewolf within moments of meeting the lot of us?”

Nozomi simply smiled. “When I was able to fully get a look at you all around the table, I could see an unnatural reflection in your eyes—similar to the gleam of a night stalking animal. Also, when Honoka-san entered the shop, I heard her say that it was ‘stinky,’ despite the fact that the incense I lit from the back had stopped burning an hour before and nothing was off about the odor of the shop otherwise. So, through the process of elimination and the nature of your non-human energies, I recognized your characteristics to be that of wereanimals.”

The eyes were their most astounding feature that tended to give them away. For reasons like that, she and her sisters tended to carry sunglasses with them to wear at night, and while it looked peculiar, it was preferred over being outed on sight. They could see excellently in the dark in any case, so the shades weren’t really a detrimental accessory. “Sometimes it’s easy to forget small details like that, especially when it’s daytime and we find ourselves in a dimly lit room suddenly…”

“I think I would forget something like that easily, too. Especially with how quickly everything happened,” Nozomi said, glancing sidelong at Eli and kicking out her legs a bit.

Eli watched her for a moment, smiling a little. “Yeah,” she said softly, meaning to continue on with that train of thought. However, she got caught up in the way that the aquarium light framed Nozomi’s face, accentuating her soft features. That observation and their previous conversation made her realize something. “If the light is catching them correctly, I’d wager that it’s partially happening now,” she said as she focused on Nozomi’s own eyes, trying to figure out how she was able to meet someone who was so alluringly mysterious while being gentle and modest as well.

Nozomi turned her head with an amused grin. “You’d be right,” she murmured back, holding her gaze for a long, warm moment that made Eli’s cheeks burn hotter with each passing second.

She began to dig for something else to say, if not to cover up the fact that her collectedness started to shift into unadulterated gawking. “By the way, earlier… I couldn’t help but notice that you were eyeing one of the grand prizes at the carnival games. I think it’s time for the park to part from one of their stuffed animals,” she said with a growing smile, rather enticed by her own idea. It sounded fun, and while it might be dismissed as showing off, the real award would be seeing Nozomi’s reaction when she walked away with the prize.

The way Nozomi’s expression brightened tugged on her heartstrings as she stood and nodded. “Sounds fun!”

They made their way out, the day growing old as the sun began its long descent down.

It was pretty amusing to see that the game was more popular than they had left it passing by it earlier. A sore loser was making his way back to his friends after failing to light up the entire tower, and another stepped in to take his place. Eli was in no rush, eyeing the giant raccoon dog stuffed animals before crossing her arms and watching the current round.

“Light up the whole tower and win a prize!” the host called, nodding to the current player. “Let’s see if this young man has what it takes to succeed!”

“I’ll do my best,” he said with a big smile before bringing the hammer over his shoulder.

Being on the taller-than-average spectrum let her see them quite easily, but she made a mental note of Nozomi’s needs as well, weaving their way to the front side to watch. The way he held it told Eli that there was a bit of weight to the hammer since he wasn’t able to bring it over his head for an optimal arching hit. Swinging it from the side like that would be difficult, but not impossible, to land the hammer flat on the platform.

At least, for a human, it would take a combination of hitting it square on the surface and pure strength to win. She was slightly familiar with the tricks of the game, but Eli wondered if she could win disregarding the strategy and relying on pure strength alone.

Nozomi watched with wide turquoise eyes. “Do you think he's going to be able to do it?” she whispered towards Eli, her attention focused on the flashing lights of the game.

The guy was pretty scrawny, in all honesty, and even his bystander friends were already giggling. “I believe in an underdog,” Eli said with optimism, smiling in amusement. A heartbeat later the hammer came down, a loud slamming noise accompanying it.

The lights barely filled up halfway before sinking down again. A pity. She smiled awkwardly through it regardless, letting out a few beats of laughter.

Defeated, he returned to his party, and Eli started to stretch out her arms. “Alright, here I go.”

“Do your best!” Nozomi chimed in with an excited clap of her hands.

Eli stepped forward, pulling out her wallet and offering out the fee. “I’ll give it a shot,” she called. The onlooking crowd began to bustle and chatter, but no one opposed her proposition.

“Well, if you’re so sure, miss. Step up and be our next contender!”

After the exchange, he handed her the hammer, lifting it with ease. It was weighted, definitely, but certainly nothing she couldn’t handle.

“Are you sure that it’s not too heavy?” the man asked after watching her turn and test it in her hands.

Eli simply smiled reassuringly at him. “Oh, it’s completely fine, thank you.”

With that, she stepped up to the platform, not skipping a beat before lifting it over her head and swinging down. It all happened so fast that she made it look easy to wave the hammer around, much less control its trajectory well enough to slam down onto the pressure plate.

The massive crack made everyone in the area flinch and gasp. The bell at the top rung sharply, every light on the way there shining brightly.

“ _Khorosho!_ ” Eli cheered excitedly, admiring the fully lit tower of her own work.

The crowd erupted in applause and cheers, and Eli removed the hammer from the plate to see a visible dent in it.

“A-ah, oops,” she mumbled to herself, putting the hammer down. She may have overdid it a little bit. Maybe if she played off her observation, they wouldn’t notice. Turning to the game operator, she said simply, “I’ll take the tanuki, please.”

Nozomi was stunned to silence, hands over her mouth as Eli returned with the raccoon dog plush. She clasped her hands together, her face tinged red at the cheeks. “Amazing! I suppose I neglected to ask about any other special abilities you had untransformed…”

Eli smiled bashfully, hugging the giant animal a little closer. “Well, it’s easy to forget about the things that aren’t immediately apparent…” After a moment, she offered the plush out to her, amused that it practically dwarfed her.

After a beat, Nozomi reached forward and wrapped her arms around the plush toy, having to turn her body away and tilt her head to the side to see around the thing at Eli. She smiled shyly, squeezing the plush tight. “Thank you…”

The sight of Nozomi expressing such genuine gratitude while hiding behind an adorable and ridiculously sized stuffed animal was better than a hundred grand prizes. Her heart hammered in her chest, thinking that it was just so _hard_ to resist hugging her in that moment.

They set out side by side, diving into a conversation on what its name should be and other small things. The looks of amazement from children passing by Nozomi’s plush didn’t go unnoticed, either. Eli was sure that it would make a few people seek out the games to test their own skills for a chance to win one as well. It seemed like her little victory had more amusing results than she had originally thought.

They found out pretty quickly that the raw size of the stuffed animal occasionally hindered Nozomi’s sight, and Eli figured that it’d be a good idea for her to hold it so that Nozomi didn’t hurt herself. As Eli threw it onto her shoulder, they both shared a little laugh over how ridiculously inconvenient the prize was. Even this was fun, though, so Eli didn’t mind.

It was only a moment after her nose caught a familiar scent that she spotted a face that she recognized and dreaded seeing. Eli mildly panicked, swinging the stuffed animal in front of her face and suddenly grabbing Nozomi’s wrist to pull her into the nearest gift shop, a noise of surprise sounding from her.

“E-Eli?” Nozomi managed, keeping her voice down as she looked to her with a knot of worry in her brows.

Eli’s heart was racing, hiding behind the door frame to peek out and see if she had been detected. “Tsuruya Rei,” she said lowly, spotting that head of black hair again. “It seems like I had the benefit of being upwind from her. I don’t think she knows I’m here.” Still, Eli wouldn’t risk it as she remained there, watching her like a hawk. There was no way she was alone, either, yet she watched as Rei leaned against some fencing, hands in her pockets with her eyes trained skyward.

“Tsuruya… Rei?” Nozomi repeated, eyes following Eli’s as she ducked with her, confused. “I take it you're not friends, then.”

“You can say that.” Then, something caught Rei’s attention—something in her and Nozomi’s direction. Eli froze in horror as she thought for a split second that they had been caught. She pressed herself against the display behind her, holding on tight to Nozomi’s wrist as she hid her face behind the stuffed animal.

A tense moment passed and nothing happened. Eli dared to peek out once more, catching sight of a single girl with long, blonde hair holding something in both hands and heading straight towards Rei. Eli didn't recognize her and could gauge nothing from Rei’s inexpressive face.

The girl stopped next to Rei and Eli realized that she was holding out a shaved ice to her.

With enough concentration and angling her ear towards them, she could pick up the conversation through the busy commotion of the surrounding attractions and people.

“Is it one third strawberry and two thirds pineapple?” Rei asked in a deadpan, taking the frozen treat and inspecting it.

“Uh huh,” came the annoyed response. “I even made them make it twice because the ice wasn't shaped right and I told them not to stick the spoon into the center of it.”

Rei stared at the shaved ice, giving the other girl no response whatsoever. Then, she finally said, “That’s good.”

“You’re unbearable,” the girl said back with a sigh. “Next time, go get it yourself. I felt like such a rude jerk just then.”

“You’re the only person I know who gets my orders the way I request them.” Rei took the spoon and started to pick at the ice.

“I’m your girlfriend, not a fucking robot.”

Rei paused, frowning. “...I have no use for a robot.”

Eli straightened back up and hid away from sight again, processing what she had just learned. It was a date, then? She didn’t know why it was so hard to imagine that someone like Rei was just a person with her own likes, interests, goals… It was easier to imagine that during every wake of the day, Rei and her pack were antagonizing the Sonoda pack since that’s all she had ever known her to do. This was the last place in Japan that Eli expected to see her.

Taking one last look, she saw that Rei and the other girl started walking in a direction deeper into the park. When she was certain that they wouldn't be noticed anytime soon by either of them, Eli stepped away from the wall and heaved a sigh of relief.

Nozomi was silent, still worried and in the dark as to what just occurred. Eli realized she was still holding her wrist. And judging by the slight grimace on Nozomi’s face, she realized that she had been holding on a bit too tightly.

She let go immediately, her heart sinking at the knowledge that she caused Nozomi discomfort, even if it wasn’t intentional. “I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to…” _Hurt you? Yank you away without your permission? Keep you in a perpetual state of confusion as I eavesdropped?_ Every one of those things she was unmistakably guilty of.

“It’s… it’s alright,” Nozomi managed as she gingerly rubbed her wrist, her gaze falling. “Is everything okay?”

Eli wanted so badly to help alleviate her pain in any way, but she figured she had already done enough, so she stood back, eyes drawing downwards as well. “Yes… we’re not in danger. At least I don’t think so…”

“I’m glad, then,” Nozomi returned, her posture relaxing as she looked back to Eli.

Eli gave her an unenthusiastic nod, seeming distant. Thoughtful. “Do you remember when I said earlier that our packs are our families?” she asked softly, as if speaking any louder would have caused her more embarrassment.

“Yes…” Nozomi replied just above a whisper.

“Well… every member is important and loved. We’d do anything for each other if it meant protecting one another. And that goes to say that some people have different ideas than others on how to accomplish that.” Eli stared off in the general direction that Rei and her girlfriend had headed off, frowning. “The Tsuruyas have been a thorn in the sides of the Sonodas more and more recently. They’re a newer, more radical pack with popular ideas that seem to be gaining traction recently, and they want to preserve werewolf pride by distinguishing themselves—by putting themselves above humans. Tsuruya-san believes that only by being at the top can werewolves be safe in this society.”

“I see… so that’s how it is. People like that really do exist. It’s scary to think about,” Nozomi replied solemnly. She shook her head and her smile returned as she attempted to alleviate the situation. “Let’s not end the day on a bad note. It’s almost dark. They’re turning on all of the night lights and I’d really like to see the sunset from the ferris wheel. That sounds fun, doesn’t it?”

It really shouldn’t have been so easy for a such a proposition to lift her spirits. Eli couldn’t help but crack a smile, nodding. “You’re right. Let’s get going.”

* * *

The music and bustle of the crowd reduced to a murmur as the car ascended into the chilly breeze that carried the night on its wisps. The vibrant oranges and reds of the falling sun were engulfed by a living mass of purples and black. Stars started to glimmer and twinkle where the sun’s rays were drawn away. Churning storm clouds hid the far edge of the night sky.

From the top of the ferris wheel, Eli could see all the way to the horizon. The park and city beyond were framed with orange light in a gorgeous silhouette before the nightlife rolled into full bloom as signs and boards and skylights pierced through the oppressive dark.

Nozomi was leaned far out of her seat as best as her restraints would allow towards the setting sun, a long hum of amazement sounding from her.

Eli sat across from her, the raccoon dog plush strapped into the seat next to her like a real person. She looked out towards the array of colors as well, but for her, the more captivating scene was how enamored Nozomi was with the view. She found that she was starting to appreciate some of the smallest things, from the nuances of Nozomi's character to the very things that inspired her reactions.

“It's so easy to feel like a child up here,” Nozomi started as she eased back into her chair, her hands balling up in her lap, her eyes reflecting the sunset as she looked into it contentedly. “Being up here like this makes me feel so small compared to how big the world is. I've always been reminded of past aspirations and dreams whenever I'm somewhere high like this… because someone else got inspired with big hopes and dreams for our world by looking down at it like we are now.”

Eli’s eyes drew outward again, feeling what she meant by that surge of wonder. There were very few moments where she could find herself up this high in the sky, inspiring the drive to make all of her dreams come true. From here, it felt as if anything could be possible. “What are your aspirations?” she found herself asking, looking to Nozomi.

For a long moment, the working of the mechanisms in the ferris wheel, the gentle cooing of the breeze, and the distant music from below was all that answered Eli.

Nozomi looked down into her lap, a small, sad smile at her lips. “I... don't have many. It’s hard to say what kind of things that I want when I can see into the future and see if it's something that I have achieved or not. What sort of accomplishment can I feel if I knew the end result of something I want, after all? For that reason, I try not to see into my own future, but the unsurity is maddening.”

Eli couldn’t help but laugh softly, covering her mouth. Nozomi looked to her in confusion. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just…” Eli beamed at her, shrugging. “...that’s just it, though. None of us know our future, and it is maddening sometimes. But that’s why we try to live in the now as much as we can.”

Nozomi parted her lips to speak, words catching in her throat. She relaxed back with a laugh of her own. “Knowing your future… not knowing. Neither one is preferable, it seems,” she replied with a wry smile. “My aspirations… I suppose as for now, it _is_ to live in the ‘now.’ And as silly as it might sound, it's a dream of mine to just be happy. And, of course, I have a promise to keep.”

Eli held her gaze, humming. It was a simple dream, but it also wasn’t as easy as it may have sounded. Eli found her eyes dropping, feeling the need to place a comforting hand on Nozomi’s knee. “And you can. I just _know_ you can. I don’t need to see into the future to be sure.”

After holding her gaze for a long moment, Nozomi smiled as her eyes slid to close, her palms going to either side of her on the bench. “Thank you, Eli.”

She became painfully aware of the fact that Nozomi had addressed her so personally, feeling her cheeks light up. Was it an accident? Nozomi had said it so comfortably that it couldn’t have been, though. Come to think about it, she had done the same thing in the gift shop, but she was too preoccupied at the time to dwell on it.

Eli sat back, not replying to her but hoping that the amiable silence was enough to assure Nozomi that she acknowledged her. She pulled her eyes from Nozomi, finding an artificial interest in her giant plush companion.

They began to descend the other side of the ride, the rays of the sun disappearing behind another car as they made their way around to the loading dock again. They still had a few more rounds on the ride, thankfully.

As the whole scene from before revealed itself again, Nozomi opened her eyes. She took a moment to inspect the sunrise then to the plush as her smile grew. “Hey…” she started as she glanced back at Eli. “...this is sort of like a date, isn't it?”

Just when she thought she was recollecting herself, Eli spiralled right back to before with a rapidly beating heart. She may have thought about it offhandedly throughout the day, but she had excused it every time it came up. She didn’t want to set herself up for those sorts of ideas if only to be proven terribly wrong.

Eli swallowed. “Yeah? What makes you say that?” Of course she knew! That was the only thing that she could apparently fabricate to say in the midst of her embarrassment.

Nozomi leaned back, giggling in amusement. “Where do I start, really? Though I believe you know the answer yourself,” she said slyly. “Most people who find themselves up in a ferris wheel at sunset with a pretty girl wouldn't hesitate to be honest with her about their feelings… the time is just so ideal, you know?”

Eli’s mouth went dry, frozen in place. Her face set afire, she tried to say something, but as her lips parted, she fell incredibly flat, impossibly flustered. She expelled a breath quite loudly, forming into awkward laughter. “I, um… you... _really_ enjoy teasing people, don’t you?”

“It’s a special talent of mine. I tend to get under people’s skin very easily—but it's all in moderation,” Nozomi tilted her head slightly, her eyes heavily lidded as she looked on almost expectantly. “You’re actually very easy to read when it comes to your emotions. And I do realize the pressure I've put on you, but I believe you can still carry this out in a tactful manner.”

Eli recalled the first time they had met and recognized some of the words from her palm reading. She turned her hand over slowly and looked down slowly to what Nozomi had called her “heart” line.

She drew her eyes up to the patiently awaiting Nozomi, gripping her hand into a fist. Eli adopted a thoughtful look, trying to not let her nervousness get the best of her. “I’m no good at these things, really. I’ve always been pretty lousy at it, actually, despite the fact that I’m apparently a reliable source to come to for relationship advice, but…”

After another pause, Eli sighed, her hands falling into her lap. She smiled up at Nozomi sheepishly. “I’ve already messed up, haven’t I?”

Nozomi’s lips pursed as she attempted to stifle a giggle, but a gust of air left her nose and her shoulders shook as she let out a bit of musical laughter. “No, you’re perfectly fine,” she managed. Eli was completely unconvinced.

She resigned to shaking her head and smiling, allowing herself to be the butt of the joke. For now. “What am I going to do with you?” she asked mostly to herself, swiping a few stray strands of blonde hair behind her ear. “Did you know… that wolves mate for life?”

Nozomi’s smile weakened a bit as one of her brows rose curiously. Eli could hear the pulse of her heart pick up as she swallowed subtlety—nervously. But Nozomi hid it well. Anyone else would have missed it. “They do…?”

Eli simply nodded in confirmation, her eyes leaving Nozomi. But with what she was trying to do, though, she needed to be more resolute. Eli looked to her, waiting.

After a slight shake of her head and an amazed grin spreading across her face, Nozomi spoke with a bit of humor in her voice. “You’re still tactful in the end, you know?”

“I’ve been told that before,” she replied gently. After biting at her lip for a second, she asked, “Are you fine with that? W-with that… commitment, I mean.”

Nozomi beamed and smiled with a blissful happiness that was remarkably encapsulating. “It’s a bit forward of you to ask for a life-long relationship, but we have to start somewhere. I do like you after all, Ayase Elizaveta.”

After letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, Eli laughed airily, looking down and nodding. “Right… we’re different from the wolves of the wild, of course. I was more implying that we tend to be… very loyal. So, you should expect that…” She knew she was rambling at this point, but with the overwhelming joy she felt, it didn’t matter that she may have been making a fool of herself.

A warm smile met Eli, Nozomi unperturbed by her rambling. “I understand the analogy. I was teasing you there, as well.”

“...Right. Yeah,” she repeated, putting a hand to her flushed cheek. “So… I guess I should refer to you as Nozomi, then...”

At that, Nozomi’s amused and even demeanor dissolved into surprise at the drop of her first name. She blinked wordlessly for a moment before her smile crept back onto her face brighter than ever as a beautiful flush dusted her cheeks. “I would like nothing more.”

Eli vowed to herself in that moment that she would do everything in her power to see that Nozomi had a reason to always use that smile.


	7. I Defy You, Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What’s in a name? That which we call a rose,  
> By any other name would smell as sweet."  
> —William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

The rain fell in blankets by the time their workshop was let out, heavy and dark clouds hanging overhead. Kotori wished she could have focused more on the lesson, but she was too preoccupied with what had happened only two days prior. Waiting under the protective cover of the building, she looked on as her peers pulled out their umbrellas and continued on with their days. She looked to her own umbrella hanging from her forearm, which was yet to touch the rain today. Kotori closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to locate a familiar presence.

_Minami-sama,_ the owl greeted her mentally. _Will you have me follow the wolf again today?_

Kotori opened her eyes, looking across the canopies of the nearby trees in search of Ucchi. “Maybe. I’m not so sure…” she said softly, not entirely dedicated to the idea of finding out why Umi had acted the way she did.

After officially meeting Umi, Kotori found it wisest to leave before her friend had noticed the two of them talking for fear of unknown repercussions. Kotori didn’t think she left in bad nature. So why was it that when she sent Ucchi to follow Umi the next day, she ducked out and avoided him for fear of seeing her again? It had been like that ever since.

Of course Kotori knew about the rivalry between witches and werewolves, but she would have thought that with how everything was progressing, none of that would have mattered to Umi. Kotori thought that she may have already made it clear, after knowing what Umi was, that she didn’t care about the strife between their kind. All she ever needed was an excuse to see werewolves herself to develop her own opinion about them instead of believing blindly in judgemental teachings all of her life.

She couldn’t help but think that there was something more to it, though, and that alone made her want to confront Umi once more to get answers. Her mind wouldn’t be at ease without it.

“Yes,” she finally said, starting to feel the nervousness slip in after she made her decision.

Kotori listened to the rain batter the ground before she was finally answered.

 _Very well._ Ucchi soared up and out of a nearby tree and into the rain.

She didn’t make to move immediately, standing where she was an contemplating how she was going to approach her. Would she stay and listen to what she had to say? Or had Kotori already ruined her chances of getting to know her just because she knew that she was a witch?

Kotori reached for the thin sterling silver chain around her neck, surfacing it from under her coat. The array of small encased stones rattled against one another, and it didn’t take Kotori long to isolate a single gold-tarnished blue gem.

She squeezed it, sighing and closing her eyes. Kotori concentrated on her positive energies, allowing it to influence her being. “ _Lapis Lazuli, you charm my fears_ ,” she began clearly but softly. “ _The power of mind is yours. Let my courage appear, let my courage soar. So mote it be…_ ”

The faintest tinge of soft blue light swirled around the surface of the gem before returning to its mundane form, and only then did Kotori open her eyes. She replaced the necklace under her coat and out of sight, expanding her umbrella and stepping out into the awaiting sheets of water.

 _I believe in your courage as is, Minami-sama_ , came the owl’s reassuring words in her mind. _The fact that you’re doing all of this is very brave of you. Your persistence will not go unrewarded, I am sure._

Kotori giggled, hugging the umbrella handle closer in a bashful gesture. “That’s so kind of you, Ucchi-chan… thank you.” The fact that she had him as a guide, with as wise as he was, put her all the more at ease. She was truly lucky to have him.

She waited patiently for him to get back to her, finding her mind wandering as she watched the rain.

 _Ah. The wolf is alone,_ Ucchi reported, causing Kotori to return to the present. It never took him very long, since Umi went to the same college as her. _She seems as troubled as I’ve noticed of her from the past few days. Also, perhaps you should hurry. One reason being that she has already noticed me and the next being that she seems to be without an umbrella today._

“O-oh! Right, I’m on my way.” Kotori stepped up her pace, her bag swinging as her side as she angled her umbrella to shield her from the wind and drizzle. This had to have been a record for how quickly he was spotted by her, giving Kotori the impression that she must have been expecting this. “Is she moving?”

_No. She appears to be stuck and trying to get ahold of someone on her cellular phone. My appearance is making her nervous, I believe._

Kotori’s face fell a little, unable to help the guilt she felt for being the cause of her discomfort. Did Umi dread seeing her that much? “Okay… please come back, then, and lead me the rest of the way.”

_Understood._

Not a moment later, Ucchi was circling ahead and guiding her across campus. Kotori couldn't decipher the nature of the butterflies in her stomach—that of excitement or anxiety.

Before she could decide against the nature of her decision, she stepped out into the opening of an amphitheater, the long benches built into the stone misty as the rain pelted the metal and clouded off of it. Her gaze naturally went to the open space of the stage.

There she was—standing off to the side under the cover of the stage’s canopy. Her hair was dark, nearly black as it was heavy with rainwater. She was soaked to the bone, her long sleeve blouse clinging to her form and dripping excessively. Her bag hung from one of her hands and nearly touched the floor, her other arm slack with her cell phone in hand. She stood her ground, her brows furrowed as her amber eyes watched her cautiously.

Umi’s pointed gaze froze Kotori in place, her heart hammering in her chest, though she wasn’t sure if it was from Umi or from her short run. She tried to catch her breath, clasping even tighter on her umbrella handle. It was now or never, wasn’t it?

As she began to descend the steps towards the stage, Umi took one small step back but otherwise remained where she was.

“Minami-san…” Umi started in a low, careful voice, barely louder than the relentless rain.

She stopped at the base of the stage, remaining in a locked, silent exchange of intense staring. Kotori didn’t waver, brows pulling into a furrow as she steeled her resolve.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Kotori called out, feeling that she had to project over the rain whereas Umi seemed to speak so effortlessly above it. She heard the approaching flapping of wings from behind her, feeling stray water droplets hit her neck and face before a pair of talons fastened on her shoulder. She paid no mind to Ucchi, focused on trying to gauge _something_ from Umi’s guarded stance. “Was it something I said or did? I wanted to know if I could make amends somehow…”

The confusion and hesitation Umi’s face didn't go unnoticed. She swallowed and looked down, bringing the back of her hand with her phone clenched in it over mouth, wiping away the water. She swung her bag over her shoulder and sighed. “No… it wasn't anything you've done. I just… I can't bare to imagine what my father would think if I was caught around someone like you… I’m so high-profile as it is, it would be easy for him to figure out. Because of that, I didn't want to cause you any more trouble. I’m sorry,” Umi admitted, her head hanging.

Kotori stared at her for a moment before her eyes fell, understanding now. “Right… of course. ‘Someone like me.’” She repeated it with such a hopeless dejectedness at realizing that this was all over before it even started, just because of _what_ she was. As the gravity of the situation began to settle in, she began to resign any ideas she may have had. “Your father… and my mother, too, would probably lose their heads, right?” She smiled up at her emptily, the gesture hiding her disappointment. “It may have been pretty naive to think that things didn’t have to be like that. But…”

Could she allow herself to reveal the feelings that she had about her? And that night, even?

Kotori touched at her chest, fingertips scrolling over the covered gems around her neck. She turned away, using the umbrella to sheath herself from Umi. “But… I believe in fate. I believe that our meeting was _meant_ to happen. I can’t say how or why I think that, just that I do…”

Umi went silent, much to Kotori’s dismay. The cacophonous slaps of the suddenly oppressive rain against the floor rang loud in her ears. The sharp, wet hits of confident footsteps towards her made Kotori lift her umbrella slightly and turn to look over her shoulder. Umi was standing a lot closer, now out in the assault of the rain as she looked down to her with a serious expression.

As Kotori brought herself to meet her eyes, her heart skipped a beat. Umi was indifferent to the battering downpour, water streaming down her face and dripping from her hair and chin. She was mesmerized by how handsome she was, the awe that she instilled bringing her back to the night they had met, with Kotori staring up at the towering wolf before her with nervous uncertainty.

“Witches and werewolves…” Umi began. “...witches are the reason why werewolves and werekin alike exist. It’s a curse targeting humans who dared to wrong and threaten the livelihood of a powerful, dreadful witch and her wolf familiar… since then, the curse was widespread and introduced to many timber wolves and other animals in the wild—the intention to start a pandemic that would spread and reduce the human race to a fleet of rabid monsters to match their hateful nature. My family refounded their humanity long ago and pioneered the embracement of stability and control into their lives… ever since then, an ancient strife has kept witches and werewolves at odds with each other,” Umi narrated, her tired eyes never falling away from Kotori’s face as she spoke.

The hopelessness solidified itself at the history of their strife—it's the way things have always been. There was no way this could have ever been.

“However…” Umi continued, surprising Kotori and Ucchi. “I believe in fate, as well. Things _do_ happen for a reason… the good and the bad. We’re constantly being tested by forces unknown…

“It's against everything I've been taught to uphold to be around you. But I’ve disobeyed my father before and took a risk that I shouldn't have that worked out for the better. Because I _knew_ it was the right thing to do. It was no by mistake that one of my closest friends is with me today… and I have a similar feeling now. A feeling that something needs to change for the better. I can’t ignore it any longer.”

As she heard those words, an ever present knot of anxiety within her heart started to loosen, relief and happiness washing over her. “Yes… I agree!” Kotori chirped, smiling brightly at her. Then, she realized how silly she may have seemed getting so excited. She returned to Umi with a more reserved, albeit sheepish, smile.

 _So, fate is at play here. I see. She is stubborn and has her ideas of the workings of things, but I trust the wolf. If she were anyone else but a Sonoda…_ Ucchi’s thought in her head trailed off. His wings flapped as he balanced on Kotori’s shoulder for a moment before he darted off into the rain.

Umi turned her head towards where the owl flew off to, beads of water flying off of her at the suddenness of the gesture before bringing her amber eyes back down to Kotori gradually. “Your friend agrees, as well?”

She nodded, hiding her free hand behind her back. “He does.”

Umi stood idly before she stepped forth and with no prior prep, jumped off of the elevated stage. She landed with one foot in front of the other and her knees bent as they absorbed the impact with a splash, causing Kotori to squeak and jump back a bit. A layer of water flicked off of Umi to be quickly replaced by the constant rain—the sheets of water lessening in their intense pelting. “I’m glad,” she replied a she came to stand in full again, less than a meter away from her.

She stared at her, eyes going between the puddles where Umi stood to her soaked clothing. After biting at her lip a little, she shuffled forward to fit the both of them under her umbrella, eyes cast downwards.

“Y-you’ll get sick,” Kotori said quietly, unable to keep her cheeks from blushing.

“Oh…” Umi murmured as she looked up to the cover of the umbrella. “I-I’ve never gotten sick. My immune system is strong…” she continued, her words weak and _shy_ , Kotori realized. “My mother will scold me for coming home like this, though…”

Her mother would too, if she had found herself in Umi’s position. Kotori hummed, thinking it over briefly as the rain fell around them before reaching into her coat pocket to surface a beautifully embroidered white kerchief. She hesitated before reaching up to pat gently at Umi’s pale cheek, catching some of the water droplets that still fell from her bangs.

Umi flinched slightly at the first bit of contact, her gaze snapping to Kotori’s. She tensed, the tendons in her neck visually tightening as she stood very still. “Th-thank you very much.” There was a pause as Umi inspected her up close for the first time, Kotori’s face burning at the scrutiny. Then, “Your heartbeat. It’s very… erratic. Loud. Are you alright?”

Kotori squeaked out and pulled away, shocked. She could hear her heartbeat?! At the pure mention of that, it felt like her heart kicked into overtime. She tried to awkwardly laugh it off, fiddling with and twisting at the umbrella handle. “W-what do you mean? It must be the rain! Yeah…” she finished lamely, eyes searching for any sort of distraction. “U-um, hey, I think I can help out?” She didn’t mean to make it a question, but her nerves were getting to her in audible ways now, pinching at her words.

Umi blinked, astounded at the silliness of the excuse and the sudden shift in conversation but not fighting it. “Could you…? How?”

“With your, um…predicament. Since you can’t go home like that. I know something that can help...”

For a moment, only the dripping of water off of Umi onto the pavement answered her. “... magic?” She tilted her head curiously.

She glanced up to Umi, humming in affirmation. “We would need to get out of the rain, though…” Kotori glanced around, shifting slightly but still keeping the umbrella over her and Umi.

“Right… what would be the use of drying off if I was still standing here?” Umi made to look at her phone before she shook her head and pocketed it. “Um… if you would lead the way then, please.”

As they took their first few steps together, the rain bearing down on them didn’t seem so confining anymore.

* * *

When the doors closed behind them, the rain immediately became a distant whisper. Kotori looked about amidst the sudden silence, realizing that the gym was completely empty with the lights shut off. The only source of lighting that let her see the vast space was filtering in through the windows, though the overcast skies still left much to be discovered.

Kotori removed her umbrella from above them, collapsing it and watching as the water dripped from the tip. She set it aside the door where a few other forgotten umbrellas remained, and only then did she turn to Umi. She didn’t look up to meet her eyes, suddenly at a stand still with her decision. Where did the two of them even start? There was so much to talk about, yet at this moment Kotori was pressed for words.

“Right… all of the sports practices must be cancelled… it is a pretty bad storm, after all,” Umi pointed out in a voice above a whisper, her eyes scanning the equipment as she began to walk through, checking over her shoulder to make sure Kotori was following. “Maybe we should head to the bathrooms?”

Kotori continued to look around, absorbing her surroundings before finally looking to Umi. She nodded, following after her and pulling the strap of her bag more onto her shoulder.

Umi waited for her to catch up before they matched pace and made their way deeper into the gym. They turned a corner down a dark corridor. Undeterred, Umi continued on, stopping as the faint hum of something vibrating in her bag caught her attention. She pulled it up from her side and fished out her phone. She tried to slide it open to answer the call she was receiving, the screen illuminating her increasingly frustrated features as it stood frozen on the call display. Kotori saw a slight glimmer in Umi’s eyes as she inspected the phone. She realized they reflected light just like Ucchi’s did.

“Water damage, I suppose,” Umi sighed as she tilted the phone from side to side before sighing and placing it back in her bag. “You don't happen to have a spell to fix technology, do you?”

Kotori smiled at that. Umi had a dry sense of humor now, did she? “No, not specifically,” she replied amusedly.

A gust of weak laughter left Umi as she continued on. “In any case, the bathrooms should be straight ahead.”

“I’m right behind you,” Kotori stated, stepping closer to her as to not lose her guide in the dark.

A moment later, Umi stopped at the end of the hallway and pushed open a sectioned-off door. As it closed behind them, complete darkness shrouded them in. Umi’s confident steps sounded to her right and in an instant, lights blared ahead throughout the gym locker room. Kotori raised an arm and squinted at the sudden brightness.

Rows of tall metal lockers lined the walls to the left that went to the far corner of the large room. A wall separated the lockers from the tiled showers and bathroom facilities. The dripping of water from a loose faucet and the droning of the air conditioning were the only hints of activity in the room.

Umi stepped in and placed her bag on a nearby bench with a sigh. “This must be an inconvenience to you. Thank you for doing this for me,” she said as she stepped back and without missing a beat, she began to pull off her long-sleeve blouse to reveal the button-up underneath, her hair falling in thick, wet strands onto her shoulders and back when it was off.

Kotori remained unmoving from the entrance, eyes fixated on Umi. She knew that this would naturally come up since she offered her assistance, and it was certainly not the first time that she had been in a locker room with someone changing. With that at the forefront of her mind, she stepped forward, slipping her back off of her shoulder and setting it aside. “It’s no problem, really,” she replied softly, putting her mind towards the task at hand.

Umi held out her soaked top contemplatively. “How is it that you’re going to fix this, exactly? I’ve never actually seen magic performed in person. Only in movies and variety shows.”

Kotori didn’t reply right away, her eyes falling closed. She began to concentrate, taking in a deep breath to calm herself. “Well,” she started, reaching out to run her fingertips on the damp material. “I don’t see it as fixing, but more as restoring balance.”

“Restoring… balance?” Umi repeated.

“Right. Everything has a state in which it was intended to be in. A state of equilibrium if you will,” she began, centering her energy on the tips of her fingers as she spoke. “Wet and dry, hot and cold, good and bad… there’s a balance of all of these things in the universe. If you tip the scale one way, the other side will be affected.”

Umi nodded slowly, her brows furrowing. “I see… does all witch magic work that way?”

Kotori smiled and opened her eyes to Umi. “Yes, in principle.” Her smile faded somewhat as she contemplated something, closing her eyes again and returning to her concentration. “Not every witch chooses to follow that, though.”

“I had no idea… I suppose I’ve always thought magic was so effortless,” Umi whispered, as if fearing that she would disturb her concentration.

No reply met Umi, but after a long moment, Kotori began to feel heat gathering at her fingertips. Then, she recited softly, “ _Rays of sun, warm my touch. Sun make snug what I touch._ ”

The blouse glowed a subtle golden yellow, and the both of them could feel the material heat up. The water evaporated from its surface, disappearing quickly in the air and leaving a toasty, dry top, just as if it had been laying out in the sun.

Umi’s eyes widened in awe as she turned the blouse around in her grasp. “Amazing… so that’s how it works.” After a moment, she placed the blouse on a dry spot of the bench before she worked off the buttons of her shirt nonchalantly. “Are all spells casted in that manner?”

“Spells have either a verbal, material, somatic, or… focused…” Kotori’s mind went blank, everything completely going out the window when her eyes happened to trail down Umi’s body. Her _very toned_ body. She definitely just counted a six pack, and she was thoroughly stunned to silence. Had she _ever_ seen someone this built in real life? Kotori didn’t even think that a body like that existed outside of the movies and magazines! Her chest, too… she had a modest bra and the most perfect sized—

“So that was... an example... of a verbal... spell?” Umi attempted to clarify as she straightened out her button-up and held it out to her, her eyes blinking in confusion as they met hers. Her head tilted slightly. Oh no. Umi must have noticed something _off_ about her again.

“Yes!” Kotori squeaked in an octave higher than she was used to. She looked down, finding temporary relief in the glistening tiled floor. “S-some spells require a wand while some don’t require speaking. Others may need physical components! It all depends...”

She wanted to get the question out without sounding too forward, instead crafting it into a veiled question pertaining to werewolves. “Sonoda-san,” she started hesitantly, opening her eyes to meet Umi’s questioning gaze again. Kotori realized that she was completely unperturbed by her previous behavior, causing her to feel a little relieved that she didn’t call much attention to what was truly on her mind. “Is it in the werewolf description to be... so… physically fit?”

There was a pause and a hum of thought from Umi. “No… I suppose it depends. Honoka is the least physically fit person I know,” she started before perking up. “Honoka’s the one I was fighting when you first met me. She’s my sister. Not by blood, but we’re close, being in the same pack and everything. On the other hand, Eli—my other sister—is in remarkable shape. She was a dancer before she turned, after all. She has excellent stamina and I’m actually a bit envious of her arms. Rin isn’t a werewolf, but much of the same goes for her. She’s very fast and has amazing reflexes.”

Umi went to run a hand through her damp hair, eyes drawing elsewhere as she waited for Kotori to finish the spell. “We tend to run a lot and work on our strength—both of body and mind. We’re also naturally much stronger than an average human, even unshifted.”

Kotori recited the incantation, performing the same one on Umi’s button-up before releasing it and leaving her with another dry article of clothing. She recalled the other werewolves with Umi that night, along with the large cat that had snuck up on her. She hummed, smiling up at Umi. “Sisters… I understand, now. That’s so incredible that you have one another.”

Umi nodded and gave her own small, thankful smile. “I am very fortunate to have them. My father is so strict, I wasn't allowed to do a lot of things as a child. Even now. But when I’m around them, it feels like I’m making up for that lost time.

“Being a Sonoda… there is a lot riding on my shoulders. The pressure to maintain the image we want _all_ werewolves to be is sometimes crushingly unbearable. But, truth be told…” Umi trailed off, gathering her thoughts as she went to stack her clothes. “... I don't hate the position that I'm in. I really do feel like there is something more that I have to do. Something that only I can do that my ancestors had failed to. Turning Honoka, meeting you…” She turned to meet Kotori’s gaze, a mix of determination and wonder in her eyes. “... doesn't it feel like this is all part of something so much bigger than _us_?”

Kotori’s expression became neutral as she searched Umi, the silence stretching out. A small smile that didn’t reach her eyes pulled at her lips, and she softly said, “I’ve always felt that way.”

A beat passed, something shifting in Umi’s expression. Her brows knotted into a furrow. “I’m sorry... did I say something…?” Umi halted her question, an ebb of concern hushing her.

Kotori finally looked elsewhere, shaking her head. “No, you’ve said nothing wrong. We should hurry, though. Your family must be worried about you.”

Umi seemed like she was about to pry, but thankfully she withdrew from the topic and gave a resigned, sharp nod. She turned away, pulling her hair over her shoulder and combing her fingers through the damp strands idly. “You’re right. I’ve kept you for long enough.”

Kotori was prepared to leave it at that and say her goodbyes, but she bit at her lip and stepped closer towards Umi. “May I?” she asked, looking to her hair. “You must be cold by now…”

“Um…” Umi turned back towards her meekly. “It is a bit chilly…”

Kotori nodded, reaching up slowly and gently to cup either side of Umi’s neck. With her hands still warm from the previous spell, Umi’s skin was icy in comparison, the contrast startling.

Standing so close, Kotori could hear Umi swallow nervously. Umi’s whole body turned rigid, arms falling down to her sides as her hands clenched into tight balls. Her intense amber eyes were studying her closely, her face contorted slightly in embarrassment.

Kotori allowed her hands to slide down to her shoulders, able to feel her tensed muscles come to relax a little as she settled there. She closed her eyes, stepping in just a _little_ further so that she could rest her forearms against Umi’s form as well. She didn’t _have_ to know that this close of a proximity wasn’t necessary for the spell to work. It was self-indulgent, at best.

Feeling like she may be giving Umi a near heart attack by now, she decided to begin the incantation. “ _Fire burning within myself, banish the cold from my fingertips_ ,” she said softly, feeling the energy leave her body and funnel into the other. The waves of warmth spread until she could feel that Umi’s external temperature matched her own, the remaining dampness in her hair drying up and color returning to her cheeks.

Suddenly, a jolting pulse of sharp pain tore through her. She squeezed tight at Umi’s shoulders for her bearing, the glow leaving her fingertips like candle lights flickering out.

Umi reflexively put her hands onto Kotori’s waist, a small gasp of surprise sounding from her. “M-Minami-san?”

_Minami-sama. Are you alright? That feeling, just now…_

Kotori took in a few long, labored breaths, eyes flickering open. Her head spun from the pain and her brow furrowed, but she fought against it, trying to keep her composure and not further worry the both of them. “I’m alright,” she whispered, answering both Umi and Ucchi with her words and mind, though she hardly sounded convinced of her own reply. “I-I think I was more exhausted than I thought I was…”

The feeling of cold dread in the core of her chest, however, certainly told her that she wasn’t just simply dealing with fatigue.

_You were pushing yourself too hard. You need to rest._

Umi was completely stunned, a helpless look in her eyes. “Then please… you’ve done enough for me. The least I can do is to help you get home safely, now.”

Not possessing the energy to argue the necessity of her help, Kotori just nodded, bringing her eyes up to Umi’s. “Thank you…” she said weakly, realizing how close she was to Umi, her face heating up.

Umi must have arrived at the same realization at the same time. Her cheeks burned with a faint blush as her eyes grew wide. She awkwardly drew her arms away, taking a step back after hesitating to see if Kotori was alright on her own. She then pivoted on her heels and did her button-up quickly before pulling on her blouse, refusing any eye contact. “Right. Let’s get going,” she said after whipping her hair out of her top and grabbing her bag.

Kotori said no more as she grabbed her bag and followed Umi out, her eyes distant as she clutched absently at her chest.


	8. Second Impressions

Gathering at Eli’s house was a normal part of their routine, so there were no questions asked when she invited all of them over. When Umi arrived with Honoka in tow, she had plenty to say about punctuality and how she had trouble being such when she had Honoka as her traveling companion.

“Not only is she the slowest runner, but she also excels at spending as much time as she can getting out the door to go anywhere.” Umi sighed and took a seat at the table, going to rub at her temple.

“Umi-chan wants to be an hour and a half early to everything! It’s unreasonable!” Honoka whined, coming to sit as well. Her head collapsed on her folded arms, but when she looked up, she was smiling brightly suddenly. “So I try to be as late as possible so that we cancel it all out!”

“If that's the case, then I will remember that in the future and leave you behind,” Umi shot back with her arms crossed.

Rin clapped her hands together and plopped down across the table. “Honoka-chan! That means you could have had…” She paused, counting her fingers in an obvious display of trouble adding up the math. Then, she threw both of her hands up with a large grin. “A ton more time spent with us if only you got here earlier!”

“Whaaaat? So you’re taking Umi-chan’s side after all, Rin-chan?!” Honoka looked defeated, leaning back and collapsing on the floor.

The more she thought about it, Eli didn’t think she’d ever seen a more exemplary yin and yang pair than Umi and Honoka, really, and the comparison made itself more and more obvious by each passing day. If taken at face value, they would appear too volatile for one another, but the reality was that they were so in sync with that Eli could hardly imagine one without the other. They truly cared about one another on a level that Eli didn’t think she could ever compete with.

A few sharp knocks cut through the bickering, and everyone turned their heads to the door with surprise, save for Eli. They’d find out soon enough that this wasn’t a typical meetup.

“Huh? Who’s at the door?” Rin asked first, on her knees now and leaning onto the table.

Honoka shot up and beamed in excitement. “Is it delivery?!”

Eli gave Honoka a deadpan look. She had been preparing dinner since she called them over, so why would she think that she decided to just order food instead? Honoka also seemed a little too excited at the prospect of delivery as well, as if she didn’t like what was currently on the menu. To give her the benefit of the doubt, though, Honoka didn’t know what she was making yet. “No, but good guess,” Eli said sarcastically.

Honoka jumped up at Eli’s tone, knowing that she definitely said something wrong before she laughed nervously. “Sorry… just hungry…”

Umi was silent, watching with concern as she began to scoot away from the immediate view of the door.

This was the moment, then. Eli couldn’t decide what she was more nervous about: their confusion at seeing her familiar face, coming clean for covering it all up in the first place, or Umi’s decision on whether or not she would allow it based on what Eli had learned about recently.

Eli turned to the door, giving them her backside. She sighed. “Please… keep your questions to a minimum so that I can first explain,” she said carefully, moving to the door and earning herself more looks of confusion now mixed with concern.

With her hand on the door knob, Eli took in a deep breath to prepare herself. She was already committed to this now. With that in mind, she opened the door, greeted by Nozomi’s impossibly bright smile. Nozomi cocked her head to the side, her hair done up in a single braid that draped down her shoulder. In her hands, she cradled a clear container that had a delicious looking cake inside.

“Am I late?” Nozomi asked, not in the least bit nervous.

Eli didn’t know what element to comment on first. How could Nozomi be so weakeningly beautiful? How was it that her smile so easily started to make her anxieties melt away? And how did she get so lucky with someone like her, anyway?

“No, not at all,” Eli replied after a moment, returning the smile warmly. “A cake? You may want to put it up so Honoka doesn’t eat it before dinner,” she joked.

“Eh?!” At the drop of her name, Honoka tried to peek around Eli, resorting to sniffing at the air. Her expression lit up almost immediately. “Strawberry cake!” she interjected excitedly before her face screwed up, sniffing again. “And… incense?”

The question was left hanging in the air as Eli stepped out of the way, holding the door open for her. “Come in…”

A giggled sounded from Nozomi as she stepped in. “Please pardon the intrusion,” she said as she removed her shoes and stepped up into the house.

Rin and Umi joined Honoka in leaning over to see who it was that had arrived, the lot of them snapping back into place at the table in an attempt to instill a nonchalant attitude as Nozomi entered the room and bowed to the company.

“Hello! It’s been a little while, hasn’t it?” Nozomi asked good-naturedly as she straightened up and looked between the others excitedly.

A moment of confused silence began.

Rin was the first to break it, her nose scrounged up and her eyes squinted as she tried to decipher the situation. “A private fortune-telling party?”

Eli laughed to hide her growing discomfort. _That_ would have certainly been a lot easier to explain. “While that sounds like a lot of fun, that’s… not quite it.”

Umi leaned forward, sniffing the air in front of her as subtly as she could before her eyes widened in recognition. “Honoka’s right when she says she smells incense. I didn’t think you owned a burner, Eli, and you’ve smelt a lot like it as of late, now that I think about it. I believe I’m slowly starting to put the pieces together…”

“Do I really smell that strongly of incense…?” Nozomi blinked as she lifted one of her sleeves to her face and gave it a quick sniff.

“N-no! I’m very sorry, please excuse us for being so rude,” Umi said as she stood abruptly, trying to cover her little flub. Eli figured that it must have been very easy to forget about their heightened senses when they were at her place. After all, they came here solely to be their other selves without reservation.

Honoka seemed to realize her error as well, clapping her hands over her mouth as if she were trying to shove the words back in. “R-right!” she mumbled behind her hands. “It’s not you at all! We just have… incense-scented… shampoos!” she threw out quickly.

“Huwah? Incense-scented shampoo? I thought you hated the smell of incense, Honoka-chan!” Rin piped in, much to Honoka’s growing dismay.

“Everyone, none of that will be necessary,” Eli mentioned, raising a hand. Her eyes were mostly on Umi as she thought about how this was all going to sound. “Because… she already knows about us.”

The room went very still, the eyes darting of eyes from person to person to only movement in the room for a long while.

“She knows…?” Rin asked in awe, the growing excitement at the reveal visual as she began to vibrate where she sat. “No way!”

Honoka stared at the two of them, the pieces not clicking together for her yet. “Knows what?”

“Uh… yeah. Actually, what does she know, nya~?” Rin stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth playfully.

Umi stared straight at Nozomi, her brows knitted into a tight furrow as she analyzed what she could best gather about her from there. “She knows… that we’re wereanimals?”

So much for holding the questions. Whatever she may have rehearsed before was rendered useless at this point. “That’s right,” Eli answered carefully, gauging their reactions. “But in all fairness, she figured it out entirely on her own.”

“All on her own?” Honoka, Eli, and Rin said in unison as they all leaned towards Nozomi with growing interest.

“Yes… I apologize for barging in on all of your lives like this. It must be at terrible inconvenience, but I was curious. I think it would be better if we started again so that I could set things straight. You see, I’m Toujou Nozomi,” she introduced herself anew as she bowed politely. “And not only am I a fortune teller, but I’m able to see people’s spiritual energies and see into the future. I did come to the conclusion on my own. Rest assured, I mean no ill intent. And though you are an out werewolf, Sonoda-san, your secrets are safe with me.”

“I see…” Umi started stiffly as she looked to Eli with a confusion that was still present. “But that still doesn’t explain how it is that you and Eli know each other.”

Eli swallowed, stepping forward. “After our first visit, I returned on my own a little later. We simply got to talking after that. And then…” She looked to each of their awaiting faces, putting a hand on her waist and looking down. “And then we went on a few dates and here we are.”

When she glanced back at Umi, she saw her understanding for the situation starting to sink in. A look at Honoka told her that she may have had to spell it out. “In case there are any doubts… we are actually together,” she finished.

Rin’s jaw practically hit the floor. She obviously needed the clarification. So did Honoka.

“She’s… your girlfriend?!” Rin’s hands slammed down onto the table as she jumped up onto her feet and bent over the table with wide eyes and an open-mouthed smile. “When are you getting married?!”

“Woah, no way! Does that mean we get our fortunes told all the time now?!” Honoka asked, beaming at Nozomi with her palms under her chin.

With a flinch, Umi’s eyes widened as well, a deep flush of red coming to her cheeks as she parted her lips to say something. She found no purchase in words as her suddenly frantic attention darted back and forth between the overly-ecstatic Honoka and Rin to the collected Nozomi and awkward Eli.

“Y-y-you two… a-are…” Umi began, everyone’s attention focusing on her. She had an impossibly obvious blush that burned all the way to her ears. She turned away swiftly to try and cover her face to preserve some of her dignity. “Th-that’s so… I-I’m… I’m happy for you, Eli. I just… it’s embarrassing, isn’t it? To be so forward like that… Honoka and Rin are so shameless...”

Eli couldn’t help but start a small laugh at all of their reactions. She looked to Nozomi with relief, wondering why she was ever worried in the first place. Her sisters were perhaps some of the most accepting people in the world. “In any case, I’m glad to see you’re all receiving it relatively well. But thank you.”

Nozomi nudged Eli softly, a smug “I told you so” look on her face that made Eli roll her eyes playfully. “You are all such nice girls. I look forward to our time together.”

When Nozomi made herself more comfortable at the table, Eli went off to the kitchen just adjacent from the seating area to bring out tea while their dinner finished baking. Among the three of them, there seemed to enough questions to keep Nozomi there for the whole night.

“Nozomi-chan! You said you could see into people’s futures, right?” Honoka asked, her attention glued to Nozomi.

“That’s correct,” Nozomi replied patiently, not seeming to mind the way Honoka referred to her in the least bit.

“Wow! So cool!”

Umi cleared her throat awkwardly, looking uncomfortably between Eli and the table. “Toujou-san, you’re… not a witch, are you?”

The giggle from Nozomi helped to ease Umi’s posture. “No, I’m not a witch. I can't use magic. I thought I might be able to in the past, but I've learned since then that it's impossible for me.”

“Oh,” Umi muttered, her posture relaxing as she accepted the answer.

“If you’re Eli-chan’s girlfriend, then does that mean that you’ll be going to the Halloween party?” Honoka asked, changing the topic suddenly.

Nozomi blinked in confusion. “ _The_ Halloween party?”

Rin flew up and jumped to turn on the television, perfectly finding a news outlet channel covering a story that had Halloween decorations all over the screen. She grinned and pointed back at the display excitedly. “Everyone knows about this party!”

Eli emerged from the kitchen with a large glass dish, her attention naturally going to the television as well. Sure enough, there was a lot of excitement around the final weekend of October, reserved for the largest Halloween party in Japan. The cameras showed footage of the estate that it was to be held at, and no matter how many times she saw it, Eli always thought about how nice having a mansion that big was. There were _bathrooms_ there that were larger than her entire apartment. Not to mention the party would have live entertainment, music, food, refreshments, security, its own _filming crew_ …

The Nishikinos possessed a wealth she couldn’t even dream of having. Eli couldn't even fathom how much the party itself even cost, and for just _one_ night no less.

Eli remembered why she walked into the room in the first place, shaking her head of the daydreaming and going to place the dish down on the table.

“What’s for dinner?!” Honoka asked even though it was already in front of her, leaning over the food to look at it.

“Pirozhki with salmon and potato salad,” Eli replied, smiling. “More stuff my grandmother taught me to make.”

Everyone cheered excitedly in a chorus of “amazing!” and “how cool!”.

“The pirozhkis are just coming out of the oven, so I’ll bring them over. Honoka,” Eli said pointedly. Honoka looked up at her guiltily. “They’re still hot, so don’t rush into them.”

The girl laughed nervously, rubbing at the back of her head. “Right…”

“So, this Halloween party… now that you mention it, it does seem familiar,” Nozomi started, her eyes fixated on the television in interest. “When I was in Kyoto, there was talk about a famous party at the end of October near the coast. I heard that it was a popular place for wereanimals and vampires and the like to go. Is that true?”

“Yeah! We went for the first time last year, when Umi-chan’s dad finally let us!” Honoka nodded, smiling widely. “Well, it’s also because he thinks we’re finally old enough to go.”

“Last year was my first time as well,” Eli said as she emerged with a plate of rolls. “It was… extravagant, to say the least. It really puts all of the big parties in movies to shame.” She set them down onto the table, finally taking her own seat. “Well, let’s eat.”

“Yay! Thanks for the meal~nya!” Rin exclaimed as she jumped back into her seat at the table, her hands clapping together.

“Thank you for the meal,” Umi said with a nod as she picked up her fork.

Honoka also enthusiastically said, “Thank you for the meal!” When Eli looked to her, she noticed that Honoka somehow had her plate full, lightyears ahead of everyone else.

“Honoka, how did you…” Eli began, but when Honoka looked wide-eyed at her with her fork in her stuffed mouth, she decided that it probably shouldn’t be questioned.

“When it comes to Honoka and food, it’s best to try not and think too hard about how she manages to do the things she does with it,” Umi said as she served herself polite portions.

When Eli went to check on how Nozomi was doing, she was surprised to see how much she seemed to be at ease. Nozomi’s eyes travelled around the table, lit with amusement as the bickering and clamor continued on.

Eli leaned onto her palm, smiling to herself. It seemed as if she didn’t have to help Nozomi adjust to her family after all. She handled it so naturally. “So,” Eli started, catching Nozomi’s attention. “Does that party sound appealing at all?”

A hum left Nozomi as she put a hand up to her mouth politely and swallowed, the rest of the table falling quiet as they eyed her. She put her fork down and pinched her shoulders together, hands balling in her lap as she gave a grand smile. “It sounds fun! If all of you will be going, there’s no way that it won’t turn out to be a very interesting evening. That is, if you’ll have me!”

“Of course we will!” Honoka replied excitedly, her face lighting up.

There would not have to be any sort of adjustment, after all. Nozomi was already a part of the family, and as she looked between her sisters, she was certain that she would always be welcome among them.

* * *

As the sun began to sink behind the horizon, an impending dread filled Rin as she stared at her phone in hand, her face screwed together in pointed concentration. She typed and retyped and rehauled and reimagined the text she was trying to send constantly.

It had been a couple days since she met Hanayo as herself—a couple days since she had visited her in her cat form. The guilt and confusion of the situation weighed heavily on her. It wasn't fair to Hanayo, either way. She either kept her secret from her longer or she kept a friend from her and both didn't settle well with Rin.

With a frustrated sigh as she kicked both of her legs vigorously over the side of the building she sat on, Rin figured she just had to be both for now—Hoshizora Rin and Hanayo’s bobcat companion as two completely separate entities. There was no need to worry about everything if she wasn't ready to tell her, right?

“Normal… just act normal,” Rin encouraged herself under her breath as she reworked her text, leaving out any confession she planned on giving and instead, she asked Hanayo to accompany her to the upcoming Halloween party—making sure to specify that she knew Hanayo liked that sort of crowd and that Rin wanted to check it out. She screwed her eyes shut as she sent off the text and powered her phone off, not wanting to see a reply so soon.

At that moment, she wished she had confided in Eli before she left to pretend like she was going to visit her friend, as usual. But that involved coming clean about failing to see Hanayo as a cat when she said that that was what she was doing and revealing that she was still insecure about telling her everything. She had always made it out to seem like it was no big deal, after all. Eli had nothing to worry about when it came to her, for all Rin knew.

Tonight, Rin didn't plan on sitting on this roof until the early hours of the morning, though. She really could have used some wisdom from her older sister when it was offered before she tackled this endeavor. But it was so hard to find a moment to on top of everything, even if they lived together and saw each other everyday. And now with Nozomi around, Eli was _definitely_ going to have less time for her…

Rin stood and stretched, staring out over the block of the city she towered over. She always transformed here—on the roof of a tall abandoned building where her things would be safe and no one would see or hear her.

She stepped back and and stripped, crouching behind the wall of the stairwell as she placed all of her things in a neat pile. With a sigh under her breath, she turned towards the setting sun and began to tap and channel into her other side.

“I hope you’ll forgive me, Hanayo-chan…” She said, her words carried up and disappeared into the air.

Rin flinched, her heart picking up pace and pumping loud in her ears. Her blood began to run impossibly hot, her mouth parting to pant as she felt her entire body ignite angrily. She fell to her palms, head bowed as the pain of popping and morphing bones became all that she knew. The corners of her eyes burned with tears as she raggedly took breaths to keep as calm as possible, trying to focus on her goal so that she didn't remain trapped in this hurtful state any longer than she needed to.

Umi’s teachings helped her through—she never transformed anymore without her guiding light. She visualized the instance of Umi explaining the logistics of the process, letting the soothing drawl of her voice in her mind pull her through much like how a mother would comfort her child out of a nightmare with gentle, kind words.

_“It’s easy to lose yourself in between the strange nature of the transformation from human to wereanimal. At this moment when you are changing, you are neither tangible thing,” Umi had said softly, her hands on either side of the back of Rin’s head and her forehead pressed against her own as Rin trembled relentlessly, eyes screwed shut as her body morphed into something that was unrecognizable._

_Despite the whimpers of pain and the gasps of breath and the thundering of her heart that demanded her every fiber as she tried to keep together, Rin desperately tacked her focus onto the words that Umi was saying._

_“First you are a person—you have the ability to decide and choose your morals, to surround yourself with people you love, the ability to impact other people's lives with just your words and actions, and the ability to make promises. These things don't exist in the wild—they don't exist to a falcon looking for its next meal. They don't exist to the burrowing mole deep in the ground. To the lion in the savannah and to the fish of the sea._

_“When you step away from your human nature, you are then accepting the strife of your feline ancestors. You are taking on her spirit, her form, her lithe movements, her untamable beauty. You become her, her dame and sire, her siblings, her children, and her constant means of fighting for survival. You are borrowing her form and you will give it back when it is time for you to part from this world._

_“You take her form to learn from her and are blessed with a new perspective that both complicates and simplifies what it means to be on this earth. That’s why you have to love this form. Though it was given to you out of malice and it is painful to understand, you must make the most of these abilities because you are the only one who can bring the spirit of your feline mother to rest.”_

_Rin felt the comforting caress of Umi’s fingers through her fur—behind her ears and around her jawline. She continued to pant, no longer in any pain as she angled her nose up, feeling the tickle of Umi’s cheeks on her whiskers._

_Umi’s eyes were filled with admiration as she smiled down to her warmly. “I’m proud of you, Rin.”_

In one powerful bound, Rin cleared the top of the building and landed on the next, her paws padding almost noiselessly as her form blurred into a shadow darting through the night.

Rin stalked up to a familiar garden silently, ducking behind the cover of the bushes as she counted each of her uncertainties. She pressed herself low to the ground and watched Hanayo through a break in the leaves.

She was seated in the engawa with her feet dangling. The sliding doors from her room were parted to let in the cool night air. A light source came from within, basking its surroundings in a low, warm glow. Her glasses held the dull white light of her laptop, her eyes behind them scanning the screen. Occasionally she smiled at something before continuing to scroll on.

Rin growled low in her throat, angry at herself for having hesitated and left her waiting this long. Hanayo sat out here for her, after all.

She pushed through the bushes and stepped forward shyly, her head low as she got close. She stepped up onto the platform of the raised wood and immediately went to rub her head against Hanayo’s side.

“Oh!” Hanayo squeaked in surprise, having been so distracted before that she didn’t even notice her silent approach. “Hi there, boy!” She giggled, placing her laptop to the side and ruffling at Rin’s fur. “I haven’t seen you in a few days, but I’m glad you’re here!”

At least she didn’t seem all too hurt or disappointed with her. Rin hoped that a quick lick to Hanayo’s cheek could convey her apology.

The lick sent her glasses crooked, but her beaming smile told Rin that she didn’t mind. She fixed them, scratching under her chin. “Something wonderful just happened! But… well, there have been a lot of wonderful things happening. I met two people at school who stood up for me, and we became friends! They walked me all the way home, and they were so sweet the entire time.”

Rin stiffened a bit before she regained herself and flopped onto the ground next to her. Right. She just had to act normal. Like a normal cat. She couldn’t give off the hint that she understood every word that Hanayo spoke to her. She wished she could have heard about the other things she had missed out on in these past few days concerning her friend before Hanayo had delved straight into talking about what Rin had dreaded most.

“We’ve kept in contact ever since! Well… Ayase-san is pretty intimidating to talk to… but I’ve been talking to Rin-chan a lot!”

Some of Rin’s fear at the direction of conversation lessened. Rin mentally laughed. Eli was pretty scary. She was afraid of her when they first met, too. She just had such a strong, cool presence and came off cold to people she didn't know because she was so awkward. She hoped that soon enough, Hanayo would come to understand that Eli didn’t mean to be intimidating. Eli was very sweet and Hanayo must have known that much.

Hanayo had also called her Rin-chan! Rin had to wonder the extent of the impact that she had had on her. She must have wanted to be very close to her. This all couldn’t have worked out any better.

“Actually, she just invited me to a party. A Halloween party!” Hanayo cupped her cheeks to contain her excitement, but she was simply brimming with it. “I’ve never been to a Halloween party! I definitely want to go, and I’ve already started thinking about costume ideas!”

Rin purred as she rested her head in Hanayo’s lap. She really did want to go to the Halloween party! And she was excited about it, too! Rin had no idea what kind of costume she wanted, either. It would be fun to dress up as something cute with Hanayo! There were limitless options. Hanayo would make a really cute princess or an angel or a nurse or a—

“I don’t really like scary things, so I was looking online for some ideas.” Hanayo stroked at the top of Rin’s head as she angled herself a little to continue scrolling down the page that was pulled up on her laptop. It looked like a blog filled with ideas and suggestions, surely perfect to inspire some fun costumes.

“Maybe I should coordinate with Rin-chan?” Hanayo thought out loud. She smiled. “It’d be so much fun to make something together. Don’t you think?” she asked, looking to the cat. Hanayo paused, humming. “Though… we’ve only got a few days left before Halloween, so maybe they should be simple…”

Rin wished she could just talk about it now. Being forced to remain nonchalant was downright torture. Would Hanayo be upset if she ran off now but texted her as soon as she could so that she wasn't lonely? Or maybe Hanayo didn't really need her bobcat friend anymore now that she had Rin and Eli? The decisions exhausted her.

Just then, Hanayo stretched her arms out at yawned. “Maybe I’ll have to think about it more tomorrow,” she said tiredly, closing her laptop.

Rin found herself yawning and stretching involuntarily, as well. Was it time to go so soon? Rin dreaded the place that she had to go to next. Being with Hanayo always distracted her a bit before she went there.

“You know… it’s almost like you’re my guardian angel or something. When I’ve needed you most, you’ve been there. Even when we first met and I was taking care of you, I felt a purpose for doing those things and that really got me to look forward to each new day with you. Back then, I felt so depressed because I was going through high school without making any significant memories…” Hanayo’s eyes became distant as she thought about those times.

Rin began to purr loudly, her heart going out to her at that moment. She was really glad that she came along when she did, no matter the circumstances of how they met. She stood on all fours and stretched, pushing forward to rub the back of her head against Hanayo’s shoulder and face, rewarding her with a fit of giggles from the girl as she nearly tumbled over from the sheer force of Rin’s affections. Hanayo’s fingers began to run through her hair and behind her ears.

“Even the other day… when things were starting to look bleak and I was having trouble at school, Rin-chan came out of nowhere and saved me. She even reminds me of a cat—a little bit. It’s like ever since I met you, things have been so much better like that. And now I’m going to a really big party for the first time!” Hanayo continued on, a thankful smile curling her lips.

Rin slowed in her movements, finding that Hanayo’s realizations were coming way too close to relaying the truth for comfort.

“Well… I should get some rest. I’ve got a lot to prepare for in the next couple of days,” Hanayo concluded as she wrapped her arms around her neck, her face burying into her fur as she squeezed tight. “Thank you. Really. And I know you can’t understand me, but hopefully at least that much gets through to you.”

Rin stiffened, her purring slowing to a low rumble deep in her chest. She stood idly as Hanayo grabbed her things, said goodnight, and closed the door of her room behind her. Rin padded back and forth, making sure that the light of her room went out and that Hanayo was settled down safely before she exited through the yard and into the night.

Anxieties began to fill her stomach as she headed the opposite way from which she had arrived. Even when she passed over the Sonoda territory borders, she didn’t stop there. Though her strides were confident, she dreaded every step ahead. She turned a corner in a dark, residential neighborhood. Standing in a single streetlight on the shrouded road was a lone, jet black werewolf looking exactly her way.

Rin’s ears flattened to her head as she approached the light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the last chapter of part one! from here, we take a little break as we prepare and finalize the writing for the next part and i try to catch up on the illustrations. the next chapter is scheduled to be posted monday the 10th and we will return to the regular updating schedule unless otherwise stated and then take a similar break like this one when part two is finished. the scope of the story looks like there will be 3 parts or about 24 chapters. the wait between part 2 and 3 is probably going to be a week or more but hopefully this fic (at least the writing) will be completely finished by the 31st. anyway, thanks for checking this out, commenting, kudos, and all that stuff! 
> 
> as a question to you readers, is there anywhere in the first 8 chapters that you would like to see an illustration? or can you guess which scenes are already being illustrated? :-0 see ya!


	9. Part Two: Make Blessed My Rude Hand

“Here! Doesn't this look like such a beautiful spot?”

Umi looked up and over her shoulder, blinking as she inspected the patch of grass Kotori stood proudly over. Umi hummed and rose from her kneeling position, hiding something behind her back as best as she could manage with a backpack on. She approached and looked over the proposed spot intensely. 

Kotori leaned toward her with both fists clenched in front of her and her face alit with a newfound determination. 

It was shady, green, mudless, and had a perfect view of the winding mountains in the distance, the gorgeous spread of the green trees and plants illuminated by the afternoon sun. There was a small pause as Umi acknowledged the gentle breeze and pleasant autumn warmth. Clouds still dotted the sky, threatening more rain in the future. Then, Umi nodded once, a satisfied smile tracing her lips. “Yes, I think this will do nicely.”

“Really?!” Kotori perked up, jumping up once in excitement as Umi let down her things and began to set up. “I’m so relieved!” she continued, sighing whimsically. “Sonoda-san, you're such a perfectionist! I don't think it _really_ matters where we have a picnic, just so long as it's outside and we’re both having fun!”

“But the other five spots just weren’t right,” she replied simply. 

“Waaaah…! My feet are starting to hurt from walking around so much!” Kotori complained, though it was adorably pouty that told Umi that she must not have been completely serious, but something told her it wasn’t entirely untrue. “I’m just glad we finally get to rest!”

Umi flushed, feeling guilty that she had dragged her all the way out here for so long. “I’m very sorry… hopefully the treats we brought will make up for our lost time.”

Kotori’s expression seemed to flip at that, her brows shooting up. “A-ah! It’s okay! I didn't mean to complain. In fact, I’m really enjoying myself,” she confessed, smiling and taking out a blanket to place their things on. 

Umi watched for a moment before she took in a deep breath of fresh air as Kotori placed the blanket on the grass. Kotori hadn't seemed to notice what she was hiding behind her back. She unveiled a single white anemone and held it out to her shyly, clearing her throat to gather Kotori’s attention. “I’m unconvinced... I-I know I can be a bit of a pushover, so please accept this as an apology.”

Kotori turned and blinked, her eyes stuck on the flower for a long moment before she looked down sheepishly, smiling a little. Umi loosened her grip to let the stem slip from her fingers as Kotori gently took it. 

Kotori smiled at her in a way that tugged at her heartstrings, stunning her unexpectedly. Umi needed to remind herself to breathe. “Thank you… it’s beautiful,” she replied gently, twirling the stem slowly in her fingertips and bringing it to her nose. 

Umi simply nodded weakly in response, not sure if the gesture was large enough to be noticed. 

“It’s a flower with many different meanings, depending on where you are in the world, you know…” Kotori continued, looking to Umi expectantly as if to gauge if she was interested in such a thing to elaborate. 

“I did not know,” Umi admitted, stiffly dropping her eyes as she shouldered off her bag and placed it next to the blanket. She hadn’t considered the meaning of an anemone, suddenly anxious that she had somehow offended her. She was not versed in _hanakotoba_ , though it was something old-fashioned that would be practiced in her family. She only knew the obvious flower meanings like cherry blossoms and roses. 

Kotori hummed, her eyes returning to the flower as she continued to twirl it. “Here, it represents sincerity,” she told her, seating herself and folding her skirts under her. “Even if you gave it to me unintentionally, I don’t think it was an accident, either. It’s appropriate to find white anemones in a bouquet intended to express an apology.” She smirked a little, her eyes sliding to Umi. “You know, I would have believed you without an anemone.”

Relief washed over her as she looked away shyly and settled down on the blanket next to her. “A-a happy coincidence… s-say, do most witches know so much about plants and flowers?”

“Hmm… typically, yes, especially if they went to school for witchcraft,” she explained as she carefully laid the anemone down across her lap. “We study a wide range of things, from potion making to incantations. Different processes require different ingredients, so possessing an expansive knowledge of such things opens up a lot of possibilities.”

Umi thought of what a werewolf school would be like and grinned at the silliness of such a thing. “I see. It must take years to master.”

“It does. But even then, I don’t think most witches fully ‘master’ their practice, or even magic in their lifetimes. There’s so much to it that most witches tend to specialize in one or two schools of spells. However, there isn’t a fixed amount to learn. There are new discoveries made about magic every day.”

“Every day? Wow… I would have never have guessed,” Umi said to herself. “What fields do you specialize in, Minami-san?”

Kotori put on a smile, staring down at the designs of the blanket and tracing a finger along the swirling motifs. If it was a simple question, Umi was sure that the answer would have been easy to give. She didn’t have much time to draw any more conclusions before Kotori spoke. “The first daughter of every Minami generation is expected to be adept in all of them.”

“Oh,” she murmured, taken aback. “I should have figured that you had expectations like that riding in your shoulders…” Umi understood the difficulties ingrained with being born in a family of a long, winding tradition. “Isn't that unreasonable to ask for, however? You just said yourself that it takes most witches their whole lives to master their selected specialties. How can you be expected to know all of them?”

Kotori took in a long breath and held it before she exhaled. She leaned back on her palms, looking out towards the mountains. “Our bloodline is one of sorceresses, headmasters, and originators. We’re no _average_ witches. We’re expected to know all of it because we’re some of the few in the world who have an affinity for all forms.”

There was no measuring what _all_ the magic of the world entailed. Umi couldn’t grasp the concept with what little knowledge she had of spells except that it must have been exceptionally difficult. A new bud of admiration for her opened up in Umi’s heart. She and Kotori were more alike than she first thought, though in very separate walks of life. “And the school your family owns… are you expected to find a career there, as well?”

Again, all that answered Umi was silence. She thought that Kotori’s mind may have lagged at an inopportune time, but when she looked to her, Umi realized that _she_ had frozen up. 

Kotori turned away from her, completely shielding her face from view. “Yes,” she finally replied weakly. There was something extremely underwhelming about her answer, like there _had_ to be more to it than just that. 

But when she didn’t elaborate, Umi felt like she had said something wrong. She retraced her steps, positive that she hadn’t said anything rude. She decided it was best if she didn’t press. “I get it… I’m majoring in political science. I like the field, but maybe I would like it more if I had chosen it myself. Our parents make us do things that they think are for the best and we just have to trust them until we’re truly on our own.”

“I believe in that whole-heartedly,” Kotori agreed slowly at first, picking up a little momentum at the slight change of topic. “My mother is constantly working to make sure that I have the things that she wants me to have, but it's at the cost of me having to push and put in equally as much work. I graduated from my mother’s school at 15 and completed my undergraduate years at a witch’s college at 18. I got to choose my graduate school, so for that I am thankful. Though the WWVS program at our university is small, I’m trying to help and change that by grabbing attention through my thesis work and research.”

“Wow… you’re so young and already a graduate? That’s impressive…” Umi trailed off. Could she be any more amazed with Kotori’s abilities? “What are you focusing on for your thesis?”

“It’s about collateral rebound curses,” she explained, her expression shifting to something a bit more serious. “You know how I talked to you before about spells that are casted that need to maintain a certain balance to be performed?” She paused to wait for affirmation from Umi before continuing on. “Well, when that balance isn’t met and a spell is casted without the proper means to sustain that balance, then a rebound curse is created. Many years of studying in school is dedicated to carefully allocating resources, time, and skill to casting spells correctly so that we don’t accidentally create a nasty curse. Usually, if there isn’t sufficient materials or components or even a misspoken word in a _small_ spell, the consequences aren’t so bad. There have been plenty of studies done with the workings of these curses that I could talk about almost indefinitely, but where the real question lies is with rebound curses that are so powerful, they affect entire generations of people.”

So curses weren’t always intentional. “Entire generations? To have casted a spell that could have that sort of consequence…” Umi couldn’t think of any spell of that magnitude except for the one that afflicted wereanimals.

“Curses like that are almost unheard of. But there are ways to reverse most curses. Ways that other witches have worked hard to find, but even then, like finding medicine for a simple cough, we can really only find counter-curses for the more common curses out there. So, not much time and attention goes towards collateral rebound curses. I want to try and change that. My family wants to try and change that.”

Umi took in all of the new information with a grave furrow of her brow. Could that mean that the wereanimal curse was self-inflicted on accident? She let her thoughts taper off as she looked down to her hands and turned over one palm to gaze upon it dazedly. Kotori’s fingers in her paw the night they met came to mind. “That sounds difficult…” she started distractedly. “I’m sure you’re working hard to ensure that you find the answers you’re looking for,” Umi murmured, unsure exactly of how she felt about the prospect of her curse being undone.

“Thank you, Sonoda-san,” she said, giving a sad smile that Umi can’t pinpoint when she inspected her. “I’m yet to make a meaningful breakthrough, but I hope I’ll be able to find a significant discovery soon. I just feel like I’m so close to _something._ ” 

The conversation settled for a comfortable couple of silent moments as the two of them looked out to the view, chasing their own thoughts.

“You know,” Umi grinned dryly. “I was told the most silly things about witches when I was young. All of these crazy myths and stories that were supposed to keep me hidden underneath the covers in fear at night. I was afraid of witches when I was young…”

Kotori turned to her slowly, sharing a sheepish smile. “That’s sort of funny… I’ve been told the same sort of things about werewolves. I was afraid that if I had ever met one, I’d be too scared to protect myself. Upon meeting you and encountering your pack, though, I realized so quickly that you’re nothing like I thought you’d be.” She inspected Umi, her lips pressing together. “I really don’t know much about werewolves at all, except for a few small things. What’s it like? How does it... feel?”

“What’s it like?” Umi repeated, looking down to one of the baskets that they brought and pulling one into her lap, beginning to set out the contents as she spoke. “It’s hard to compare it to being human, if that’s what you mean. I was born this way, after all.” She paused as she unveiled a thermos and unscrewed the top that doubled as a cup and began to pour out a portion of hot green tea.

Umi reached into the basket and pulled out another cup as she poured some for Kotori and explained the heightened senses and healing that she had, making sure not to gloss over details since Kotori must have already known the most basic characteristics of wereanimals. She talked in depth about transforming and the mental challenge to keep calm and focused despite how horrible it was.

“It’s difficult, even to this day, for me to transform. The pain never really gets any easier. Some wereanimals make the mistake of never transforming to avoid it. But the animal spirit within all of us will force its way out if we don’t exercise it. Hence you have accidental, unwarranted, and unstoppable transformations that seem like they’re random and out of control. Even if I were to go weeks without changing, I would eventually reach a point where I would be unable to bottle up the transformation and find my own anatomy forcing itself to my wolf form. It also just so happens that these urges get stronger around the full moon, as it’s easier to transform during that time, but it’s not absolutely necessary. We all have to learn that somehow, some the hard way—unless you had instruction from a very young age like me. Most wereanimals aren’t so lucky.”

Kotori sipped gingerly at her tea as she spoke, and Umi noticed when her expression shifted between neutrality and discomfort, her brows furrowing at the parts that she described that were particularly unpleasant. Still, Kotori was a devoted listener throughout her explanation, and if she were truly shaken by any of the information she had revealed to her, then she was doing a good job at hiding it. 

Kotori seemed like she was forming a question, so Umi allowed there to be a little silence after she had finished. “So that much is true about the full moon,” she noted, her eyes remaining on her tea. “You have been transforming all your life. Aren’t there other forms that you can take? Other than the one I have seen already?”

Umi hummed affirmatively. “You know that there are wereanimals that take on quadrupedal forms, then. You’re right. Technically, all wereanimals possess the ability to take on both an animal form and a hybrid form. The hybrid form is seen as more powerful, since the form comes with the superior sense of smell, sight, and hearing of animals while having the strength, height, and intelligence of a human. Many things become possible when you pair that with anatomically versatile hands with opposable thumbs and jointed fingers. In interpretation, however, this form is constantly seen as a monstrosity, evil, and something to be feared. An abomination.” Umi paused, always coming to a moment of frustration whenever she spoke about it. 

Still, she pressed on. “That has a lot to do with the culture that surrounds us. Not all people completely reject it. One such case is the werewolves of Ireland. They do not view werewolves as something to be feared, but rather revered. They have always been protectors of their people, guarding men, women, and children by bringing them to safety if they lost their way while traveling. During the time of the ancient wars, where it was common practice to hunt and kill any and all werewolves in every corner of the world, they fought _beside_ humans. To this day, they are viewed with respect, both the hybrid and animal form. And, not to the surprise of many, Ireland is the leading country in the world for werewolf rights.” If only other places would take the model that they had created, things would be so much better. 

“I had no idea… that’s incredible,” Kotori said, amazed. “Surely they aren’t the only people in the entire world who think like that?”

Umi smiled a little, nodding. “There are other examples, another being one the Great Plains nations of America. The Pawnee, even to this day, hold the werewolves of their tribe in high regards. They are seen as the spiritual leaders in which others follow and learn from. That is to say they only take on the form that resembles that of the wild wolves they are accustomed to seeing, except it is much larger. This form is considered to be the most beautiful, even among other groups of people. Without the aforementioned hybrid versatility, wereanimals in that form are still very much formidable opponents, rest assured. Their size is advantageous and their strength is nearly matched to its hybrid counterpart. Being closer to the earth also helps in tracking and hunting.

“I think it also goes without saying that they despise the bipedal form for its unnatural, repulsive appearance… as they would put it,” Umi clarified. “Mastering both forms may be lost to those people after generations and generations of the practice of one exclusive form. To me, my family, and many members of the wereanimal community, a wereanimal that has mastered their condition can take on either an animal or hybrid form. Rin isn’t able to take on her hybrid form and she certainly has much more to learn and internalize before she can master it. And though Eli has made strides in her improvements, she also has a long way to go.” 

Umi debating elaborating, wondering if Kotori would find it boring, but she seemed attentive so far, so she decided to continue on. “Eli is the most unique out of all of our conditions, since she’s the only one who wasn’t born as or bitten by a wereanimal. Eli had been bitten by a timber wolf that carried the curse. She’s had the worst time out of all of us adjusting to life as a wereanimal as a result. Being bit by the animal host of the curse subjugates the victim to the most frequent episodes of violence that makes it extremely difficult to control. We can’t be certain about Rin, since she can’t remember anything prior to us finding her, but I don’t believe she was bitten by an inflicted bobcat because she has a lot of control over her transformation.” Umi let out a one beat laugh. “If I had Eli’s condition, personally, I don’t think I’d be able to handle it as well as she has been. I’ve had it easy compared to her. She’s very strong.”

Kotori absorbed that information, nodding slowly before her brows furrowed. “And your last sister, Honoka?” Kotori asked with a tilt of her head.

“She’s as good at transforming as me,” Umi confessed. “Though she’s whiny about it, she gives it her very best every time. She’s hard to keep track of and mostly has her own agenda that sometimes combats the one I might have for her, like eating too much junk food, but she takes all of this seriously and for that I’m thankful,” Umi expressed with a small smile as she took a break to sip at her tea in leisure. She looked up towards the cloudy afternoon sky. “We’re very close, just like wolf packs in the wild.”

“A pack in the wild… I’ve always wondered, do you ever hunt when you’re out running with your sisters? Could you maintain the diet of a normal wolf?”

That was a common question. “We hunt, yes. And yes, we are able to live off of game kills. But if I had to choose between a squirrel or manjuu to snack on, I would obviously choose the manjuu.”

Kotori smiled at that, a warm and welcomed gesture. “It makes me wonder what other aspects about your identity makes you unique from humans. I know that your hearing is incredible, and I can only imagine your incredible sense of smell. It’s really amazing! You even share the familial aspect of real wolves too… say, romance must be an interesting topic in your family. How do you handle those? Do you tend to be with people in other werewolf circles?”

Umi choked on her own spit, completely caught off guard by the sudden and abrupt change of conversation. She coughed and pounded her chest with a balled fist, her face flush in surprise. After a minute, Umi cleared her throat, regained her breath, and began to stutter. “I-I-I… wh-what do you mean? R-romance?”

Kotori watched Umi with the utmost innocence, her brows raising. “Well, yes… I think that’s pretty important.” Kotori adopted a pensive look, as if she was starting to understand why the questioned irked Umi so much. “You seem like a very reserved person. I don’t see you as the type to freely talk about your partner anyway, so I understand if you don’t wish to talk about it…”

A colorful strain of strange noises left Umi as she recoiled in horror. “P-partner?! I… I have someone like that?! Y-y-y-you must be mistaken… I would never… could never… n-not me. I’m not…” Umi paled as she realized she had no idea what she was trying to say. 

The look that started slipping onto Kotori’s face was increasingly incriminating, a teasing smirk pulling at her lips to where she had to cover her mouth or else she would completely give herself away. “I’m sorry,” she giggled. “Your reactions are just… so _priceless!_ But I really am curious about how that works.”

Umi, riled up to the point of death by embarrassment, could only inhale sharply as she felt her face burn impossibly hot. “M-Minami-san, you’re so cruel…” she murmured as she refused to make eye contact. “N-not that I would know anything about that stuff and even less so since I would never ask my own sisters about it, but Eli has taken an interest in a human in the manner that you... imply. She's the oldest out of all of us, so it isn't so unusual and that makes it a little easier to talk about, but I can't ever imagine Honoka or Rin involved with someone like that. As for myself, I-I just don't think I’m cut out for that stuff. It’s hard enough during the winter months without having a partner to worry about.”

“The winter months? Why?” Kotori simply asked, sipping at her tea. 

Umi froze. She shouldn't have said anything. She didn't know why she said it at all. It was taboo to talk about it so casually. “N-Nothing! Nothing at all! It’s absolutely nothing you have to worry yourself about!” She said forcefully, feeling like she was losing her grip on her sanity. 

Kotori stared at her from behind her cup for a long moment. It was almost painful to sit in such a judgemental silence. As if the cogs of her merciless mind started grinding and turning, a grin stretched at Kotori’s lips. “Is it?” she asked mischievously, slowly lowering her tea. 

Why was this up for debate right now?! “W-without a doubt!” Umi turned towards her sharply, giving her a hard, criticizing look.

Kotori had to recoil a little, her brows shooting up. “Sonoda-san…” she mumbled, her shoulders falling. She looked away, obviously disheartened by her unwillingness to discuss this subject. “I could take guesses at how many times you have ever talked about werewolves with someone who wasn’t one, so I can’t imagine there are many people who you’ve shared your experiences with, and so selflessly too…” She paused, twisting the tea cup absently in her lap. “...I would only hope that it was enough, then, if you don’t wish to tell me. But know that all I want to do is to understand you and your people…”

Umi stared in growing horror. Had she just upset Kotori? She wanted to go crawl away into some hole and forget all about this conversation. “I’m… I’m sorry if it seems like I’m withholding information from you because I don’t trust you… it’s just a really, really embarrassing thing to talk about… y-you could say we’re not really ourselves during winter and it’s best if we leave it at that…”

“Not yourselves?” Kotori repeated to herself, bringing her eyes back to Umi. The question seemed more rhetorical than pressing, which Umi was grateful for. However, she had new anxieties over whether or not Kotori would figure out exactly what she meant. 

Kotori appeared thoughtful, but soon it gave way to an easy smile. “That’s interesting. I hope it isn’t too troubling?”

The relief was staggering. “Uh… it can be a little troublesome,” she murmured. Why were they still talking about this?! They were long due for a subject change. “A-anyway… I-I don’t know much about familiars. Your owl… he seems very intelligent. Are all familiars as smart as he is?”

Kotori hummed, looking up into the branches of the tree. “Well, familiars certainly all have intelligence comparable to humans. Owls are somewhat of a hallmark of wisdom and knowledge, though, so he’s very critical, pragmatic, and very smart.”

Umi sighed in relief and laughed noiselessly. “Is that so? Did you select him as your familiar yourself? Did you have to cast a spell on him to get him to follow you?”

Kotori giggled at that, though Umi wasn’t making a joke. Maybe she made it sound a lot more comically trivial than it actually was, but she really didn’t know any better. Still, Kotori was entirely good-natured, so it wasn’t a laughter that she interpreted as condescending by any means. 

“I did have a choice in the matter, yes,” Kotori explained. “As I began to practice magic, I was allowed to choose a familiar. It’s a very special occasion for a young witch. There are certain animal breeders who are practicing witches, so even at birth, they aren’t ordinary creatures. You’ll never find a familiar with anyone but a witch, since their shops are elusive and can only be visited by means of magic. When I chose Ucchi-chan, he also had to choose me, so he must have seen something in me to make such an important decision.”

Umi hummed as she took in the information. “Amazing… so he talks to you and advises you. Can he cast magic?”

Kotori took another sip from her cup and shook her head. “Even though he’s magical, he can’t cast magic. That’s a small distinction that can be easily overlooked, though, so I can see how some people can think that.” 

“Can he talk to you wherever you are?” She asked next.

“He can talk to me from great distances, though if he goes too far, I won’t be able to hear him.”

Interesting. She supposed he would never really have a reason to be very far from her. “Can he talk to anyone?”

“He can only talk to me, since familiars communicate solely with their paired witch,” Kotori smiled into her cup and continued to drink.

“Only with their paired witch…” Umi mused quietly before perking up with more questions. Familiars were a complete enigma to her, after all, and she was glad to have this all cleared up. “What does he sound like? Does he communicate in Japanese?”

Kotori blinked, shifting a little. “I’ve never thought about those things… I guess Ucchi-chan’s voice is kind of deep? He’s very relaxing to listen to…” She seemed to be having trouble putting it into words. Her brow furrowed as she mulled over it. “I don’t think someone who looks at him would expect him to sound like how he does, since he’s so small and cute. We do have conversations in Japanese, as far as I’m aware… I feel like it must be magical communication, though, since I’m _pretty_ sure Ucchi-chan has never studied Japanese.”

Umi stared, fascinated with this new information. She looked up and around, figuring it’s been a while since she heard the flap of wings or the shifting of branches overhead. “Being a witch sounds so complicated… you’re lucky to have Ucchi-san guiding you.”

“Does it sound complicated?” Kotori looked to Umi, thinking about that for a moment before she smiled warmly. “I suppose it can, but since it’s all I’ve ever known, it doesn’t seem like so much.”

“To you, it can't be helped that you would see it that way,” Umi told her, and Kotori hummed in reply. Umi placed a punctuation on that conversation, leaving them in another amiable silence. She mulled over what she had just learned, realizing that she had hardly drank her tea. She brought it to her lips at the same time Kotori did, which caused a bit of embarrassment to bubble up within her. It was an accident, and she didn’t want Kotori to think she was being weird and copying her or something. It seemed like Kotori didn’t even notice, though, her attention once again drawing out to the countryside. That brought a little bit of relief to Umi.

“Say,” Kotori spoke up after a moment, nearly catching her off guard. “Let me make it up to you for all of the teasing I did. It wasn’t fair for me to wiggle information out of you like that, harmless or not.”

Umi blinked. “Huh? How do you intend to do that?”

Kotori smiled. “Let’s start with lunch, shall we? What do you like on your sandwiches?” 

“Oh. Um… mayonnaise and ham is fine,” Umi said back softly. 

Umi watched for a moment before she scooted over to help assemble the sandwiches and pour more tea.

“Hey… Minami-san?” Umi started slowly after they had set to their own sandwiches, looking down into hers like it was the most interesting thing in the world. She had to bring it up, right? “What do you usually do on Halloween night?” She murmured, internally flinching in regret as she resigned herself to talking around what she wanted to.

“Halloween night?” Kotori repeated, looking to the sky thoughtfully. “Well… I don’t tend to do anything special. I find that the party broadcast is fun to watch.” Kotori didn’t need to specify which party for Umi to know what she was referring to. There was only ever one that was mentioned at this time of year. “But I find that occasionally I’ll be dragged out by friends. Why?”

“Oh… um,” she breathed and shrugged one shoulder. “I was just asking because…” _I’d like to invite you to go with me to Nishikino’s party._ “... I don't do much either, so I’m glad I’m not the only one.”

Kotori giggled. “Is that so? Surely you do _something_ fun with your sisters.”

Umi took the lead on into a different conversation without struggle, mentally berating herself for giving up so easily on asking. She tried to draw her mind from pressing such a thing. Maybe Kotori would have found it to be an awkward request, or maybe she didn’t like going to parties. After all, she never said that she _went_ to Nishikino’s party, just that she watched the broadcast.

That’s what she kept telling herself, anyway, as the spotty clouds rolled by above. As the sun moved across the sky, they had plenty of things to talk about. Their conversations tended to be trivial in the most refreshing of ways, not requiring much thought but still pleasant nonetheless. It was amazing that Kotori never seemed to be short of something to say or lost as of how to navigate to new subjects. Kotori shared her passion and hobby for art and design, which prompted Umi to talk about her own recreational activities, that namely being archery and kendo.

They explored their favorite book and movie genres where Umi reacted vehemently to one of Kotori’s favorites, romance. Though it could have very easily went that route, Kotori didn’t adamantly tease her about anything else for the remainder of their time together, for which she was grateful for. 

School, jobs, family, interests… no subject felt untouched, and their curiosities fueled easy conversation that carried on until the sun began to sink in the sky.

* * *

The speakers ahead chimed in a mechanical voice that announced the next stop. The train began to slow and Umi watched the passing scenery distractedly as she battled with herself on asking Kotori to the party or not. She cursed her cowardice as she realized that the next stop was the one Kotori was getting off at. 

The pressure silenced her for the rest of the way. Her and Kotori made their way to the train doors as the final warning dictated the next stop. 

“I had fun today, Sonoda-san! We should do this again!” Kotori beamed as she turned back towards her with a grand smile. 

Umi smiled sheepishly back. “We should. Maybe if it snows next time, I can pull you in a sled.”

Kotori was pretty good at catching her truly horrible jokes and Umi felt accomplished as she doubled over a bit and giggled. She could watch her laugh forever and never get tired of it, it seemed. 

“That’s awful! But if that's what I have to do to see you as a wolf again, then I guess it can't be helped,” Kotori said back with humor in her voice. 

Umi understood that as a joke as well, but it could easily be holding some truth to it. Would Kotori really want to see her transformed again? One of her brows raised as she looked over her curiously. 

The train came to a complete stop and the doors slid open shortly after. 

Kotori hopped forward and gave a small wave over her shoulder. “Alright! Here I go! I’ll send you a message when I get home. See you, Sonoda-san!” 

“Goodbye, Minami-san,” she said softly with a small wave of her own and she watched her step out onto the platform and towards the exit. 

Umi’s eyes were stuck on her retreating figure, the warm and light feeling of a day well spent with someone amazing causing her sense of manners to become lax. Her hand fell slowly to her side and she sighed wistfully. 

A head of short blonde hair passed into her vision and her eyes caught on a woman crossing the platform. A chord of familiarity was struck in her as her smile slid away. Umi stepped forward instinctively as the doors of the train closed, her brain moving too slow to react any other way but to look on in confusion. 

It couldn't be… but why here? Was it a coincidence, if it truly was who she thought? She stared as the woman trailed leisurely after Kotori until the train started moving and she could see no more. The ebb of worry that possessed her sent her senses into overdrive.

Movement flickered at the corner of her eye and she snapped over to the next car over, meeting the eyes of someone standing at the door of the gangway connection. If she thought she recognized the blonde woman, she was absolutely sure of who it was she saw, now. Long, olive green hair and mulberry eyes. 

She saw the woman’s brows shoot up and her eyes widen, realizing that she had been discovered before the train sped up and took a curve. It was sharp enough for Umi to lose sight of the woman as the cars shifted out of alignment. When the train straightened back out again, the woman was no longer standing there.

Kurukawa Kotone and—“Harada Suzume,” she breathed. Two members of Tsuruya Rei’s pack. But why? Were they following her? And for how long?

Before she could formulate any possible answers, Umi bolted towards the door, her heart leaping into her chest as she took on a hard pursuit of her. She smashed the button that opened the door and slid through before it pulled all the way open and was upon the next one in less than second. 

Through the window, she could see Suzume entering through the opposite connector and glance over her shoulder quickly. She mouthed a swear, coming to the conclusion at the same time as Umi that the train wasn’t busy enough to completely block the walkway. It wasn’t far enough to give her enough time to enter the next car either. Umi slammed the button, thinking that she was as good as caught now. Suzume hooked her hand in the nearest man’s collar, seizing his waistband and pulling him forward with an ease that only someone superhuman would possess.

“Hey, sto–” He couldn't even finish before he was flung through the air, colliding with another group of unsuspecting passengers. Small-scale chaos erupted. The girls, who couldn't be older than high school age, shouted and tumbled over in a domino effect. The other passengers gaped and stared, distancing themselves from the sudden outburst.

Umi fitted herself in between the slow opening door and the frame and exploded through. “Get out of the way!” She shouted, causing every person in the car’s attention to snap towards her. Those who registered her fast enough and could shuffled away from the center walkway. She dodged a couple shoulders and danced around a confused elderly woman in her path. She made a hard start and leaped clear across the mess of tangled girls on the floor in a display of clearly supernatural strength. 

She braced herself against the door after she crashed against it, having barely slipped through the first closing door. The train jolted and she grasped on either side of the frame to steady herself. Consequently the second door had nearly finished closing. Umi stuck her foot through before it completely closed, the sensor kicking in and opening it up again. She charged onward, scanning the people ahead. 

The next car was characterized by the same sort of chaos, except Suzume had had a head start. It looked like a tornado had just ripped through there with bags strewn about and people on the floor trying to collect their fallen things. It was noticeably more occupied than the other cars, so Umi couldn’t even see where she was at first, but that head of green sailed above the others as she grabbed onto one of the overhead bars that had a colorful advertisement hanging from it. She used her momentum to swing forward, sailing over the heads of bystanders. They ducked down out of the way to avoid getting hit, one of the heavier set men falling over and sending his bouquet of flowers everywhere. He knocked into the people immediately around him, taking a few others down with him.

Umi landed sloppily on a loose backpack and tripped, slamming hard into a woman and losing her footing as she fell to the ground with a half-roll. She was up on her feet as quickly as she could manage with the help of a pole to her right. She stared ahead at where Suzume had scampered to, trying to keep sight on her. In one swift motion, she reached down and tugged up the woman she knocked over effortlessly, shooting a quick apology as she shouldered through the rest of the people. They now knew to get out of her way from her previous display of urgency.

She was through the next set of doors. This car was almost as crowded as the one before and a few people were looking her way with a mix of annoyance and curiosity. She cursed and pushed through to the door at the end of the car and looked in. It was calm inside and no one looked out of place or flustered. The chime for the next stop sounded ahead and she stepped back as she looked around at her surroundings, the adrenaline causing her to not be able to see straight.

As she studied the car, she saw the previous door open and what looked to be green hair disappearing behind it. Umi gritted her teeth and retraced her way back through the people as the final call for the next stop rang throughout the train. How did she make it past her so easily? 

Umi had made it all the way back to the first car she was standing in with Kotori as the train halted and the doors opened without finding Suzume. People filtered out onto the platform and Umi finally saw who she was sure was Suzume trying to blend in with the crowd as she ducked down suspiciously. She looked around frantically as she shouldered through to beat out the other people walking towards the turnstiles.

Umi pressed after her, determined to not let her out of her sight this time. She watched as Suzume tumbled through the pedestrians and vaulted over the turnstiles and made a mad dash towards the other end of the station. Inspired by the idea, Umi jumped the turnstiles as well and sprinted towards her, the way thankfully clear of people. Umi was much faster. That much she could ascertain as she finally began to close in.

Suzume took a hard right out of the station and Umi pivoted around the corner, barely catching sight of Suzume taking another sharp right out of her sight once again. Her heart thundered so loudly in her ears that she could hear nothing else as she ran as if her life depended on it. She wanted to shout out but she knew nothing but the target ahead of her and the pounding of her shoes on the concrete.

Umi minimized the distance between them quickly. She was hot on her heels, the stream of curses that Suzume muttered hitting her ears.

They were quickly approaching a dead end and Suzume charged toward the tall chain-link gates without hesitation. She leapt up and caught purchase on the fence, fitting a leg over the top. Umi was upon her in a second as she sprung up with an outstretched arm and yanked her backwards to the ground with jarring force.

Umi twisted around and pinned her amidst a struggle of kicking and scratching.

Suzume was winded, her arms pinned above her head and forced to look at her captor. She seemed to realize that struggling at this point in time was useless, so she laxed, panting. “Well, shit. Well done,” she complimented stiffly, a side of her lips twitching up. “Any other time I’d be _ecstatic_ to be pinned down by an attractive woman...”

If it was at all possible for Umi to be any more irked, then she didn’t doubt that someone from Tsuruya’s pack could pull it out of her. She couldn’t allow herself to show any weakness as her cold gaze scrolled over Suzume’s face. “I’m not interested in playing games. Tell me why you’re spying on me.”

Suzume laughed awkwardly, wiggling to test Umi’s grip on her. It didn’t loosen at all. “What? Why would you think that I was _spying_ on you? I mean, sure, we’re no great friends, but running from you doesn’t mean I was watching you,” she answered smoothly, putting on a charming smile that would not be working on Umi any time soon. 

“That doesn’t explain why you ran, then. If you’re too slippery for a casual chat, then you’re up to no good. That’s why you bailed, isn’t that right?” Umi pressed, her tone catching an annoyed weight to it.

“Well I mean, you’re pretty intimidating.” Suzume managed a shrug, letting out a one beat laugh. “Can you blame a girl for getting cold feet?”

Umi suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and sigh. She wasn’t getting anywhere with this interrogation. “Your packmate, Kurukawa Kotone. She was following Minami-san, wasn’t she? What is your business with her?”

“Whatever _you_ make your business to be with her,” Suzume delivered in a quiet, even tone. “It has to do with all of us, after all.”

As much as she wanted to pass off the statement as ridiculous, she thought of what it was exactly that she was hoping to accomplish with Kotori’s help. Umi knew she wanted to change the face of werewolf and witch relations as the world knew it. There was truth in what Suzume said—if Umi was successful in any means of the word to educate and bring both sides of this ancient conflict to rest, then it _would_ affect everyone. But that still didn't spell out why Tsuruya’s pack found such an interest in her personal life so suddenly, no matter what her own intentions were. 

Any way she looked at it, Tsuruya Rei and her pack meddling in her affairs didn't settle well with her. She would never forget how they hurt Rin. These people weren’t beyond disgusting acts such as that. 

“What will you do, then?” She began in a dangerous and low tone of voice. If Suzume was even half as truthful about her being intimidating, then she needed to work up that card to get what she wanted. “What exactly are you going to bring back to Tsuruya if I let you go? What did she tell you to do?” Umi tightened her grip on Suzume’s wrists, boring holes into her head with her hard eyes. 

Suzume bit her lip, holding Umi’s intense gaze. She was less quick to respond this time, finally seeming to be calculating her answers, now. 

“Sorry,” Suzume finally said, a coy grin pulling at her lips. “Tsuruya-san will already have my ass as it is. You’ll just have to find out soon enough.”

Soon enough? Somehow, that answer unsettled her more than any direct one would have. Suzume’s eyes fell to the side, straining to see something. Umi reflexively looked as well, noticing for the first time that a small black bag had been abandoned. In the height of the pursuit, Umi must not have noticed that Suzume had been carrying something. 

Her attention snapped back to Suzume when she reinstated the thrashing. Umi was prepared to double her efforts before she paused, watching as Suzume’s human features began to stretch morph as she entered the first phase of transformation. 

Umi swore under her breath, jumping back and clearing a few feet in time to avoid a nasty buck and thrash. Suzume curled in on herself as her body expanded, her clothing tearing sharply from the tension.

If she was going to be like this, then there wasn’t much that Umi could do to actually stop her. Considering she didn’t catch her doing anything outright incriminating, it’d be asking for trouble to subdue her. She simply didn’t have the evidence to react in the way that she wanted to. However, the fact that Suzume had to use such methods to get away from her was in its own extremely suspicious. 

Either way she acted, Umi didn’t think there was a completely clean approach to addressing the situation. Regardless, she couldn’t find herself to be too bothered about it. It was a waste of energy to try and fish out information from anyone who wasn’t Rei. They were all simply too adamant for coercion.

The wolf’s long snout pointed in her direction over her shoulder, her tail whipping around as her new form settled. Suzume scooped up the bag in her paw, and with one powerful leap, she launched herself up the side of the building, claws digging into the concrete near a window and knocking bits of the material loose. She pushed off with another mighty kick, catching the edge of the rooftop with her free paw and hoisting herself up swiftly. And just as quick as that, she was gone. 

Umi gritted her teeth together and sighed through her nose, watching where she had disappeared until she was completely out of her hearing range. As she was left alone with her thoughts, her mind went back to Kotori. She needed to warn her, and while she didn’t think that her safety was immediately on the line, Tsuruya Rei and her pack couldn’t possibly be up to any good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hue....................... remember when this fic was going to be done by halloween? me neither. here's an update: there is about 70k words waiting to be posted after this. the problem is me and tino have decided to add five new scenes before that so it has pushed all of that back until we get these first few scenes out of the way. we were originally ready to post it right as we promised but more thought and necessary scenes went into the transitional period of the next part. 
> 
> there is literally one small chunk in between these next few chapters and later chapters so the faster we can get those out, the faster our updates will come spilling back in. it's been stressful and a lot of work has gone into these next few segments, so cheer us on as we hope to tie these parts together and get this fic rolling again!
> 
> thank you so much for the support and following thus far. we're glad to finally be updating this again. (:


	10. Midnight's Luck

The clatter of glass and silverware rang throughout the restaurant, the soft and amiable hum of conversation warming the air. Nozomi and Eli sat tucked into the corner of a snug booth, a single vanilla and chocolate fudge parfait sitting in between them as they took it apart with elongated spoons and excited grins. Their shoulders bumped gently, but Nozomi didn’t mind at all. 

Eli popped another bite of ice cream into her mouth and Nozomi dug in for another, eyeing her from the corner of her eye and making sure to look away anytime she thought Eli might be catching onto her staring, making a game out of it. Though she was convinced she had been subtle, Eli gave her a playful nudge at her side, a nervous chuckle sounding from her as a beautiful shade of red dusted her cheeks.

“Okay, what? Do I have something on my face?” Eli asked jokingly as she placed her spoon down onto her napkin and reached for her water, sheepishly avoiding eye contact.

Nozomi hummed, pretending to think over her answer as a means of teasing her, pausing to place a finger thoughtfully on her chin as her eyes wandered around. She perked up and smiled as if realizing something before she tilted her head and beamed at her. “Nope! That’s not it.”

“You’re awful,” Eli murmured into her glass past a one-sided smile as she took a quick sip.

“And you’re cute!” Nozomi gushed, taking pleasure in how flustered she was. She dove her spoon into the ice cream again, leaning onto the table with her other arm casually. “But that’s really just it. I seem to have lost all of my manners and can’t help myself. You really do bring out the worst in me,” she continued to tease.

“Truly,” Eli replied with a hint of skepticism in her voice. She placed her glass back onto the table, still keeping her hand around it. She smiled, her eyes remaining on Nozomi. “You do the same with me, honestly. I really don’t know how to act around you sometimes… you completely disarm me.” 

Nozomi put a palm up to her mouth and sighed a quick laugh before she grinned mischievously and bumped her knee against Eli’s next to her. Did she, now? “How typical for a Libra and a Gemini,” she noted aloud.

“What? Is it?” Eli asked, blinking. 

“It is. We’re very in sync with our thoughts,” she answered, adapting a pensive look. “I have told you I’m a Gemini, haven’t I?”

Eli also appeared thoughtful, humming. “No, you haven’t,” she replied after a beat, sinking her spoon back into the parfait.

Nozomi grinned. “And do you know anything about Gemini and Libra compatibility?” 

“Ah… so you remember that I’m a Libra,” Eli offhandedly said.

“Of course I remembered.”

Eli smiled a little at that. “I don’t know much of anything about western zodiac signs except for some of the biggest stereotypes.”

“I thought it was funny when you first told me your sign because the combination of a Gemini and a Libra is the most compatible couple of all the star signs,” she explained as she placed her spoon down. 

“They are?” Eli questioned, pausing. She sounded a little bashful about that information, not meeting Nozomi’s eyes.

“When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. It’s easy to find the Libra’s balance when the Gemini twins are so mindfully tending to both sides of the scales.” 

“I see… I suppose it really does.” Eli realized, swirling her spoon in the ice cream absently. “And what else do our signs tell you?” 

“I could talk forever about every little quality of our signs that works in harmony with one another. To put it simply, we easily fulfill each other's needs almost effortlessly. A Gemini and a Libra together are an indomitable force of love and communication,” she said, gauging Eli for her reaction. “Isn't that sweet?”

Eli hummed in agreement, her smile brightening her entire expression. The fact that she only reserved those sort of gestures for Nozomi was enough to make her heartbeat lag. “I’ve never been much of a believer in those sorts of things,” Eli admitted, folding her fingers together and propping her elbows up. “The entire prospect of horoscopes and whatnot always felt sort of arbitrary to me. But I do think that the more I learn, the more I find comfort in it, I think. I can understand why people like it. It’s quite cute.”

“Yes, we can't help the things we find comfort in. Horoscopes have always been interesting to me, even if they’re often inaccurate. People have tried to make sense of the world around them in the most colorful ways, attempting to predict a time that isn't here yet with the patterns that they see in the stars or in the way the seasons or rivers change. There is a based truth in it, since all forms of future-seeing could be traced down through my family line and their teachings and practices.”

“ _Your_ family line?” Eli repeated, eyes widening somewhat. “Is that really the case?”

Nozomi feigned surprise. She hadn’t mentioned much of this for a reason but she figured that the least she could do to let Eli in was to talk a bit more about herself. “Yes, in theory. These powers are genetic and few select families still have them today. The first mystics are speculated to have come from China thousands of years ago. But some will tell you the Greeks had the first ones or the Native Americans, but the tale of how the powers themselves came about are very similar,” she said, letting the tension build up as she paused. 

“...That tale being?” Eli pressed after long enough, angling herself towards Nozomi more with sparked interest.

Nozomi smiled, remembering her earlier years and the fascination she had held before she started to receive her visions. “The tale that I know of is one of trust and betrayal. But all of them entail a promise and a curse,” she started. “I’d love to tell it somewhere a bit more private. Shall I cover the bill?”

Eli inspected her, her expression falling to something neutral. “Only if I can get the next one,” she replied. 

“It’s decided, then!”

They waited patiently for their waitress to return, who seemed very flustered. A tall man with a serious face stood from behind her with his arms crossed, watching with a stern look over her shoulder. He had a name tag on his chest that designated him as a manager. 

Nozomi rose a brow and turned towards the waitress. “Ah, is there a problem?” She asked with a veiled but polite smile. 

The waitress sputtered a bit and looked over her shoulder at the man behind her. She was young—couldn't have been more than high school-aged. She turned back to them and bowed deeply, much to Nozomi’s surprise. “I apologize for the inconvenience. I’m pretty new here and I forgot to ask to see your IDs before I served you. I must ask for them now. I’m sincerely sorry, but this is just policy.”

Nozomi hummed, her smile slipping away as she shot a quick look over to Eli, her stomach souring as she figured out quickly what all of this was about.

“I see. May I ask why?” Eli asked, suspicious as she already had the same realization. 

The manager spoke up. “Under the Supernatural Identification Clause, we reserve the right to ask for your IDs.”

Nozomi knew a lot about the controversial law. Retro-issued ID cards were required to have a sticker indicating the owner’s classification: human, witch, wereanimal, and vampire. Gray, green, black, and red, respectively. The newer-issued ID cards had the classification color emblazoned right below the owner’s portrait. Failure to get cleared for a classification or falsifying a classification was a felony. 

There were many gray areas with the clause. Like being turned from a human to a wereanimal after being issued a human ID card was considered a falsification, according to a wildly popular court case where a woman sued the government because she had been incarcerated with a sentence of 10 years after being turned into a werewolf and went to change her classification on her own accord. She won the case, thankfully. Changing classifications still incited jail time with possible parole as an ingrained part of the process, as ridiculous as that was.

The clause was relatively new, having been in effect for a little over half a year, and it had caused quite a huge wave of backlash from WWVS people and created even more winded tensions between newly turned WWVS people and their new communities they were suddenly considered a part of. And gods know that didn't help the already troubled WWVS social landscape. 

Most places didn't check for the identification sticker, but Nozomi had been carded for various services since the clause’s introduction in the past. The policy here must have changed recently. Nozomi visited this place often and had never been carded before service. 

Eli’s jaw tightened and she stopped reaching for her bag. “You do have the right. But if I don't show you, then you may refuse to service me. But if I do, then much of the same happens depending on your beliefs. I don't see why it matters, however, since we’re just about ready to go.”

“So, judging by how defensive you’ve gotten, at least one of you isn't human,” he scoffed and Eli flared up. 

“And so what if I’m not?” Eli rose her voice a bit, her brows pulling down in annoyance. 

“Eli, we should go,” Nozomi said as she reached into her wallet and pulled out enough to cover the bill. The restaurant had grown a bit quiet as the commotion unfolded and curious, prying, invasive eyes turned their way. 

“Please don’t return here,” the manager lastly called out at them. 

The waitress didn't look at either of them leave as she remained frozen in her bow, her hands folded tightly together in front of her apron. 

Nozomi heard an audible growl from Eli’s throat as they exited the place. Her attention was trained ahead and her strides were deliberately quick and long. She could easily leave Nozomi behind at that rate, so she sped up to keep in pace with her, regarding Eli with concern. 

Eli didn't relent in her pace as they got a block down the street. Nozomi decided she had to say _something_. She grabbed onto Eli’s wrist, having to lunge for it as she pulled them to a stop, panting all the while. “E-Elicchi? Hey, are you okay?”

Eli didn’t make notice of her right away, glaring down at something that wasn’t immediately apparent to her. 

“Eli?” she asked again, voice laden with concern as she slipped her hand into hers gingerly.

That seemed to stir her. Eli blinked several times before looking to her, her brows furrowing. She looked troubled, and reasonably so. Nozomi could only imagine what Eli was feeling right now, but even if she didn’t immediately understand, she would be as patient as she needed to be. 

“I-I’m sorry. It’s been a while since that’s happened,” she uttered apologetically, her eyes dropping to their hands. “I shouldn’t have acted so confrontational. I’ve made it clear that we aren’t welcome back.”

Eli had the most powerful emotions out of anyone she knew. She knew she couldn't help it. Nozomi shook her head and stepped closer to her, giving her her brightest, most reassuring smile. “It’s fine. I don't want to go back. I don't want to go anywhere that does that to a customer, human or not.”

It didn’t seem as if Eli was entirely convinced. She couldn’t change who she was, and Nozomi wouldn’t have wanted her to, anyway. She could never fault Eli for being in that sort of situation. A single restaurant wouldn’t change her mind about Eli in the slightest. It was a loss of one place in her life that meant nothing to her. 

Still, Eli squeezed a little bit at Nozomi’s hand, glancing back up to meet her eyes with a heavyhearted expression. “Alright… but you might find pretty quickly that a lot of options will be limited with me around,” she mentioned, searching Nozomi’s eyes. It was inconspicuous enough that it could be easily overlooked, but she knew what Eli hoped she would say. _This is what you signed up for,_ her expression seemed to convey. _Are you okay with that?_

But the answer was obvious to Nozomi. 

“Elicchi. I don’t care what kind of options I have. As long as I’m with you, I know I’ll have a good time,” Nozomi smiled as she hugged Eli’s arm close to her body and pressed her cheek into her shoulder. “We don't need to go anywhere special to have fun. I’ll prove it to you. Let’s go back to my place, okay?” 

It took a moment for Eli to respond. She cupped Nozomi’s cheek with her free hand and pressed her face into the top of her head. “Okay,” she finally mumbled into her hair. There was a short pause, and before Eli pulled away, she kissed the top of her head.

Her breath hitched as her blush burned all the way to her ears. Nozomi buried her smile into Eli’s shoulder, hoping that was sufficient in hiding her flushed face as she softly tugged on her arm and initiated the trip to her apartment.

* * *

“Nozomi… I’m not sure how to break this to you.”

Nozomi led the way with Eli behind her as they climbed the last set of stairs, opening the door and being greeted by the cool night air. Eli held a basket of snacks and sweets that they had composited, and Nozomi hugged a pile of folded blankets to her chest as she giggled. She would go ahead and play along for now. “Break what to me, Elicchi? I won’t take offense to whatever you have to say.”

Eli’s eyes naturally drew to the dark sky, glowing ever so faintly from the surrounding light pollution. Her brows furrowed. “Isn’t it a little… obvious? We live in Tokyo, so… we won’t be able to see the stars from here. It’s impossible.” 

Nozomi made a show of humming and looking up with feigned naïvité. “Hmm… are you absolutely sure?”

Eli shifted where she stood, frowning. “Well, yeah. We’d have to travel at least three hours by train to see them…”

Despite Eli’s words, Nozomi continued on to set out the blankets, unfolding them and spreading them out. “That’s no good,” she said simply, making sure she was turned away from Eli to mask her unmistakable grin. 

“Yeah, so… what are we going to do?” Eli continued, slowly making her way over. She placed the basket adjacent to the blankets, kneeling to help pull on the corners to flatten them out. 

“We’re going to see stars, of course,” Nozomi stated matter-of-factly. 

Eli paused. “...How?” she pressed, and she indeed was understandably perplexed by Nozomi’s conviction. 

She smiled in response. “You’ll see.” 

That seemed to silence Eli for the time being, indefinitely puzzling her as to how they planned on stargazing in Tokyo. The moment she proposed it, she knew Eli meant to bring up the very point that it was unreasonable, but Nozomi was so stalwart about it that she must not have had the heart to tell her that they couldn’t. 

It was actually quite fun to keep Eli guessing about what she might do, however. The way that she was able to adapt to Nozomi’s suggestions was very considerate, but the perpetual state of confusion that she subjected Eli to was definitely a bonus to the entire ordeal. She was so cute when she was stumped like this and Nozomi found it to be a quickly developing guilty pleasure. 

Nozomi settled into the center of the blanket, patting the spot next to her invitingly. When Eli eased next to her, she smiled impishly and looked up towards the sky. “Can’t you see them, Elicchi?” 

Eli was certainly _trying_ to get a glimpse of something that wasn’t visible. “No… I can’t say I do. And I know that I have better than average night vision too, but even then… are you seeing something that I’m not?” She asked, looking to her. 

She giggled and scooted towards her, turning on one palm as she leaned up to whisper in her ear. “Here, why don’t you try closing your eyes?” she breathed past a smile.

Eli watched her for a prolonged second, as if staring at her long enough would give her the answers she so desired. She sighed through her nose, a corner of her lips threatening to pull up. “Fine, alright,” she finally agreed, her long lashes falling as her eyes closed. 

One of Nozomi’s brows steadily rose as she studied her profile. She reached into her pocket as subtly as she could manage and took out her smartphone. She grinned and held it up, turning it to the side as the display lit up with an arrangement of stars, the phone acting as a looking lens to a clear, beautiful night sky. She rested her cheek on Eli’s shoulder. “Okay. What can you see now?” 

Nozomi was aware of the moment that Eli opened her eyes, a small gasp leaving her lips. “O-oh… so it’s an app. That… makes a lot more sense now!” She couldn’t finish the sentence without breaking out into a bit of a laugh, and Nozomi saw that Eli visibly eased. She laughed with her before Eli’s eyes returned to the screen as Nozomi tilted it up more. The augmented reality filled in what wasn’t immediately visible, outlining the planets, constellations, and satellites. Pointing it in any given direction revealed celestial bodies that were millions of light years away. 

“I know this isn't what you were picturing, but it's the best I could do,” Nozomi laughed as she snuggled closer into Eli’s side. 

“No, no, it’s wonderful,” Eli assured her, smiling and looping her arm around Nozomi’s waist. “You just _really_ like keeping me on my toes, don’t you?”

“It _is_ fun to keep you guessing. I would ask if you prefer me to be more frank, but I already know the answer to that.”

“And that probably also means that you’re not too interested in adapting to any of that feedback,” Eli noted, sighing and leaning her head on top of Nozomi’s. “Well, what sort of things lie within the stars for us tonight?” She asked lightly, a smile tugging at her lips.

“Let’s see, shall we?” Nozomi said excitedly as she scanned the skies, perking up as she recognized the numerous constellations in the sky and pointed them out with little ficlets of history and their significance. This was her field of expertise, after all. Her arm started to get tired by the time she got to the fourth constellation she spotted. 

Eli easily traded the responsibility of holding the phone up, smiling gently and snuggling closer to her yet. As she stole glances at Eli while she was explaining, Nozomi had the comforting thought that she couldn’t imagine any place where she would feel safer than here, in the arms of her strong, beautiful werewolf girlfriend. There was no where she would rather be anyway. 

Eventually, they laid on their backs to stare at the sky directly above them, and Nozomi continued to point out her favorite things and their interesting stories. After the next few ficlets, she wondered for a moment whether or not Eli was getting bored. But with their sides pressed together and Eli’s free hand intertwined with her own, she could hardly imagine that Eli minded. She also interjected with engaging questions, showing that she really was engaged in what Nozomi had to share. She was grateful for that.

After a certain point in time, the things she could share were starting to run sparse, and she eventually found herself in relative silence as Eli continued to slowly scan the sky and move from star to star. 

Nozomi turned to hug Eli’s arm, and even though the constellations were beautiful, she found that her attention started shifting more and more to Eli. It was an opportune time to really appreciate her from such a close proximity in a way that hadn’t really presented itself until then. The dim illumination from the phone was enough to make Eli’s face glow in the most captivating way. The features of her full cheeks, shapely nose, and lovely eyelashes were so soft, the blonde hair framing her face even softer. Eli’s lips, full and enticing, made it so hard to focus on anything else. 

Eli let out a soft sigh through her nose, her hand tightening in Nozomi’s own. “There is one more thing you haven’t told me. I haven’t forgotten about that story you were going to share with me,” she said gently, ending the relative silence. “The one you mentioned before.” Eli lowered the phone as she spoke, hitting the button to turn off the screen, and laid it somewhere next to herself out of view. She smiled a little, shifting her head ever so slightly to meet Nozomi’s eyes. “What was that one about?”

Nozomi forced her gaze from Eli’s lips and back into her blue eyes. “Hm? Oh. It’s a story about how my powers are said to have come into being.”

Eli blinked, her brows raising. It was a silent gesture of her undivided attention. It was enough for Nozomi to start her tale.

“It takes place a long time ago in China. Once upon a time, there was an Emperor that sought a way to accurately predict his future, for he was a paranoid man who had made very many enemies,” she started, recalling every word as her mother had told it to her all those years ago. “He offered fortunes beyond anyone’s wildest dreams if they could accurately tell him the outcome of one thousand coin flips in a row. People far and wide traveled to the capital for a chance to prove that they could see the future of every coin flip and win the Emperor’s promised riches, but no one was able to make a correct guesses past ten flips.

“There were two poor girls who lived in a peasant village who had heard of the Emperor’s demands. They were childhood friends who had done everything together throughout their entire youth. One girl was kind but weak-willed. The other was brash but strong-hearted. They decided that they would win the riches and bring it back to their village for everyone to share. But neither of them had any way of knowing the outcome of one thousand coin flips. 

“So, one night, they decided that they would catch a god and ask the deity for the power to see into the future. They consumed spirits of Heaven and lit a bowl full of dried opium poppies and chanted deep within the heart of a dormant volcano. After days of ceremony, they finally trapped a god. Tired, gaunt, and delirious, the two girls asked for the power of futuresight. The god agreed to give them the powers. There was one condition, however. No matter what, the girls must promise not to use their powers to see how they die.

“They agreed and eagerly planned to travel to the Emperor’s palace together. On the trip, they tested their powers, ecstatic that they could guess the weather and keep safe from thieves on the road as well as find the quickest and safest possible route to the capital. They even practiced flipping a coin one thousand times and got every guess right. When they finally came across the palace gates, the guards stopped them and asked them their business.

“‘We have traveled far! We are here to prove that we can see into the future as the Emperor so desires,’ they said. However, the guards blocked the both of them from passing when they tried to enter hand in hand. ‘Only one will earn riches beyond their wildest dreams. The other one must wait until the first one is done in order to have their chance at being before the Emperor!’, the guards said. The kind girl looked to the brash girl and nodded. ‘Then you must go in, for I am of weak will and too kind to ask for the riches once I have proven that I can see into the future,’ she said in utter trust to the other. 

“‘I will go in and prove to him for the both of us that I am able to see the future!’ the brash girl exclaimed and went into the palace. When she was brought before the Emperor and his royal court. They all watched with heavy, skeptical eyes as the test began. The brash girl answered every flip correctly to the amazement of the entire palace with a grin on her face, all the way to the 1000th flip. The Emperor stood in awe, much to the surprise of the court. ‘You will be my eyes into the future! I offer you a place in my council and here at the palace. You will have all the riches you desire and you will serve me forever!’ he proclaimed. The brash girl, struck with the enticing offer of a position of power, gradually found the idea of such a lifestyle much more desirable than returning back to her simple village and her simple life with her simple family and simple friends. ‘I accept your offer, my Emperor! I will serve you until my last breath!’ she vowed.

“The kind girl waited outside of the palace gates, trusting that her companion would return to her within the closure of the day. As the time stretched on to hours to days, however, the girl became more and more worried. ‘What if she is hurt in there?’ The kind girl thought in horror. She used her powers to look into her future, but she never saw the brash girl in her vision. Heartbroken and feeling as though she had lost everything, the kind girl fell to her knees underneath the stars and went into her future to see how it was she would die, for she didn’t think she could spend another minute in this world because of the wound of betrayal on her heart.

“The kind girl felt a cold sensation and she seized up in fear as her visions blurred and turned into that of a nightmare. ‘Fool!’ a voice thundered around as she looked up to see the god that had bestowed the powers upon her looming ominously over her. However, the god was a demon in disguise, for when she had first seen the demon, she could not tell the difference because she was delirious. ‘You have broken your promise! I curse you, your friend, and all of your blood for all eternity!’”

“What?!” Eli interjected, propping herself up on an elbow and staring wide-eyed at her. “ _She’s_ the one who is to blame? She did nothing wrong!”

“It’s really unfair, isn't it?” Nozomi smiled without humor. 

Eli’s expression saddened as her eyes scanned Nozomi. “Well, yeah,” she replied slowly. “While a promise _is_ a promise, I also understand why she did it. You do unreasonable things when your heart is aching…”

Nozomi paused, knowing full well what it was like to be in that situation. “The rest of the story is very sad. The brash girl realizes that the kind girl ruined the promise for the both of them and gets thrown out of the court when she starts acting hysterical. She gets her powers taken away, but not entirely. Being strong-hearted, she fights the demon’s will and escapes with the ability to cast magic. The kind girl then becomes victim to her visions. She sees everywhere and everything. She just can't stop seeing and it drives her mad…”

Eli swallowed, unable to answer immediately. She brought her eyes to meet Nozomi’s, her brows furrowing. “So then… that girl in this tale is the first seer, then?”

“It’s also the tale of how witches first came to be,” Nozomi affirmed with a slight nod.

Eli deflated slowly, processing this new information. “Really… I had no idea…”

“But it’s just a story. It’s depressing, isn’t it? That’s why I figured over a nice dessert wasn’t the best place to tell it…”

Eli’s eyes remained lowered for a moment more before they rolled back over to her. Nozomi noticed that she was fighting off the beginnings of a smile. “And now is better?” she asked light-heartedly, prompting a shift to a lighter mood. 

Nozomi grinned and pinched her side playfully, awarding her a one-beat laugh from Eli. “There never really is a good time for a story like that, is there?” She said mostly to herself. “And I guess the only good time to tell the other part of the story is right after the first part! So the brash girl, a witch, lived most of her life as an outcast after she was kicked out of the Emperor’s court. She couldn't return home to her village since they had all heard of her new position of wealth and having known it was the plan of both of the girls to return with their riches to help them, they did not welcome her back. A spirit approached her and took on the shape of a wolf—sometimes a badger, sometimes a bear, depending on who you ask—and told her to enact revenge. The beast became her familiar and she constructed the first wereanimal curse out of hate for how the world had treated her. It turns out that her curse was so powerful that she ended up dooming her and her own bloodline to a terrible curse, as well. Interesting, right?”

“Wow… they certainly don’t tell you _that_ part in school,” Eli commented. “She must have been extremely powerful, to be able to do something like that…”

“She must have been,” Nozomi agreed. “The story has been adopted and changed and passed around so much that the information is lost on the fable depending on who you ask. Not many know about the seer’s part of the tale. Sometimes, the nice girl omitted completely or her role is significantly different than the story I know. That’s the thing about fables. People take it in as their own to use it to tell the story they want it to tell.”

Eli sighed. “Yeah, the only version I’ve ever heard didn’t even remotely humanize the witch at all. She did it completely with evil intentions. It’s nice to hear that there was a lot more to it than that.”

“Even the story I know might not be the entire truth, you know. The witch is depicted as brash incessantly. If a witch tells you what she knows of how wereanimals came to be, I’m sure it would be much different. Perhaps she’ll even be made out to be a hero. But no one can really know for sure how witches and wereanimals came to be. It was a time long before our own whose writings are ancient and still a mystery to scholars trying to decipher them. I think it's all so fascinating.”

Eli fully faced Nozomi, poising herself to say something. “Hey, since you find all of it so interesting, have you ever considered studying it and pursuing a career in that field? I think you would love something like the WWVS department at my university. You would have so much to contribute...” 

Going to university and studying… these were all things she had considered in the past. “Is that really fair, though?” Nozomi asks rhetorically with a dreary smile. “With my abilities, trying to achieve a higher education would feel like cheating everyone else that’s ever worked hard in their studies. I’ve been hiding in the back of my shop for so long with thoughts like this… I just have it so easy when it comes to academic marks. I don’t really think I deserve anything like that because I wouldn’t have to work for it,” Nozomi answered honestly as she eased down onto her back and looked up at the dark, pollution-tainted sky.

Eli fell silent, seemingly also convinced of her hopeless thoughts. Nozomi thought that would be the end of it, but she felt Eli pick one of her hands up in hers and squeeze reassuringly. “Nozomi,” she started softly and even a little solemnly. “There are people out there who are born as _geniuses_ or photographic memory who have the same advantages you talk about, but no one tells them that they can’t do great things. I’d think that they would even encourage it.” 

Eli shifted more upright so she could regard Nozomi from above, and Nozomi’s view of the muddy, dark skies was replaced by clear blue ones. Her heart pattered in her chest, finding that her face was heating up, either by their proximity or Eli’s sweet, soft gaze, she wasn’t sure. “You _are_ special. Maybe not in the same way as those people, but all the same, you’re incredible… and you could do it if you wanted to. I would support you the entire way through.” 

The way her insides warmed could only be realized in fairytales. It felt unreal, hearing words like that and believing it without a second thought. It was so easy with how honest Eli was. Nozomi truly wanted to be as confident as Eli was trying to build her up to be. Maybe she could let herself feel this happiness in spite of all the time she had already wasted. She could make up for it just as long as Eli continued to smile at her like that.

Nozomi’s eyes drew to the blonde strands slowly cascading from Eli’s neck, coming to hang just shy of Nozomi’s own neck. Even tied up, Eli’s hair was quite long, never thinking about such a thing until now. She realized that she wanted to commit every small detail like that to memory, treasuring each thing she noticed like the most prized of possessions. 

“Hey…” Eli started quietly. It wasn’t until she said that that Nozomi realized that they had stayed like that for as long as they did. Except as she shared Eli’s gaze, now, she noticed that she seemed troubled. “I know that that’s a lot of ‘easier said than done’ stuff. It’s tough to start something new. It’s terrifying, actually…”

Eli trailed off, her eyes drawing to the vacant space next to Nozomi’s head. Then she retreated somewhat, propping herself up on an extended arm. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something. About one of my own fears. I wanted to… confess to it out loud.”

Nozomi sat up, unable to kick the nervous pit that formed in her stomach. She moved closer, placing a hand comfortingly over Eli’s that was pressed against the floor. “Your sister, right?” she started, giving a guilty smile as she spoke. “I’m sorry… when I first met you, I pried a little into it. I couldn't really decipher what was happening, but I’ve thought about what I saw a lot… you do too, don't you?”

She remembers seeing distress. A flurry of feverish movements and words that had the heavy cadence of Russian piercing through before a scream. Nozomi had spent her time deciphering and revisiting that moment, as intrusive and rude as it was. She could be honest about it now and hope Eli wasn’t disappointed that she had an inkling of what had happened.

Eli’s eyes were distant. The only thing that confirmed that she had heard Nozomi was the small nod of her head. She looked ready to begin something, but she retracted. Eli was scanning something that wasn't immediately apparent, and when she couldn't find what she was looking for, her brow furrowed and she shook her head. “I-I honestly don't remember the details myself. Actually… I can hardly remember anything about it at all. And that… _frustrates_ me to no end,” she nearly whispered, cradling her forehead in her palm. 

She could only nod in empathy. She grasped for words of comfort. This was an extremely sensitive topic, but she wanted to bring Eli the support that she had provided unconditionally for her. Even if she could return just a fraction of that, it would be much more than what Nozomi thought herself capable of. “Your sister… she lives in Russia, doesn't she? How long has it been since you've talked to her?”

“W-well… I haven't,” she said so quietly that Nozomi thought she might have heard her wrong at first. “I feel so ashamed… I can't face her now. I couldn't… I just _ran_ away. I couldn't understand what was happening to me or why, so I _left_ her, when she needed me the most.” Eli took in a shaky breath, seeming to realize that her voice had started to falter. 

The disbelief settled in, but Nozomi maintained a neutral face as Eli paused to recollect herself, shaken by her own words.

Eli sighed out and swallowed. “What’s worse is that on the night I changed, I changed her too. So she's had go to through what I did completely alone… so how can I just reappear into her life knowing full well that I… nearly _killed_ her _and_ made her go through that terrifying experience alone? So I'm scared of what she thinks of me. She has every right to hate me and I-I’m not confident enough with shifting to be near her. What if I lose control again and do something terrible? I wouldn't be able to live with myself...”

Nozomi was stunned to silence. She stared at Eli’s back as she finally put together a complete picture of what happened. It was a horrifying situation. Her heart ached in tandem with Eli’s and she felt the pain on her voice. Her demons were monstrous—to most people, she was calm, collected, and hardworking. But this must have consumed her every thought and action, always sitting in the back of her head and breeding new doubts and fears. Haunting her. 

She wanted to do everything in her power to relieve her of that weight. But that didn't mean she had answers or a way that Eli could cope. 

“Eli…” she started, trying to find her confidence that she had the tools necessary to really help. “You’re being hard on yourself… you couldn’t help what happened to you. Fear made you do something you normally wouldn’t, right?” It felt weak, but she knew Eli—compassionate, careful Eli. She wouldn’t do something like that unless she was completely out of it.

“I… I’d hope so,” Eli mumbled, sounding unconvinced. “I have been avoiding it for all this time, and I thought that maybe if I ignored it, it could just become my own secret shame… and maybe I'd be able to live with that.” Eli paused, her head falling. “Even that would have been too good to be true. I had a rough adjustment period when I fled back to Japan and tried to cope with it. I… I can remember how many times I had woken up, naked, lost, and covered in blood before they... locked me away.”

Nozomi wasn’t certain who “they” were, but she could only assume that it wasn’t desirable company. She must have spent a long amount of time in such a place. Maybe that was when Umi had found her and took her in. She didn’t have the heart to ask for the specifics, knowing full well that they were arbitrary in the large scheme of things, though. 

“The questions still keep me awake at night... how many people have I turned that I’m not aware of? How many have I… _killed?”_

There was a heavy pause. It was terrifying to even think about, and even worse that it was a struggle that Eli constantly battled with. 

“But... I started thinking more recently,” Eli continued on softly. “And I thought that eventually I could fully master transforming, and it would take time, but… but there’s more at stake now.” Eli turned her palm upwards and grasped Nozomi’s hand, still not able to meet her eyes. 

Nozomi could hazard a guess as to what she meant. “Umi-chan, Honoka-chan, and Rin-chan…?”

Eli shook her head, finally peeking at her from over her shoulder. “They’re my anchors, and I feel the safest around them. I can let my guard down or not worry about doing everything right, because I know I’m not perfect and they can handle themselves. But, with you, I don’t have that certainty. I can’t trust myself, because I don’t…” She trailed off, letting out the rest of her breath. She squeezed a little tighter at Nozomi’s hand. Nozomi was struck with the confession. “It’s me, you see. I’m still amazed by the strength and stamina that this condition has given me. I sometimes forget my own strength. I haven’t forgotten how I accidentally hurt you at the amusement park…” Eli sighed, looking down to their hands. Nozomi bit her lip to stop herself from denying the severity of that situation. That wasn’t important next to how Eli felt about all of it. 

“The thing is that I’m so scared of that side of me still that I honestly dread transforming, every time. Even if it’s a part of who I am, now, that doesn’t mean I have to love it unconditionally. Umi wants to give me grief about it, I just know it.” Eli smiled dryly at her own words. She paused as she realized something, shrugging. “Sorry, I’m rambling. Just… my relationship with my werewolf side isn’t the greatest… and I just know it’s a hindrance to my progress, but I can’t help it. And I know you’re curious about it, but… I don’t want to put you in danger in any way, so… I don’t think I can… _share_ that part of me just yet, even if I want to show you all of me. Just… not that part yet.”

Eli’s insecurities ran so deep that she didn't trust herself to this day with her werewolf side. Nozomi wished she could tell Eli that she could never be afraid of her, but fears like that didn't disperse so easily. Eli was scarred and Nozomi knew that if she truly wanted to be supportive, she couldn’t push her any more than what she was ready to overcome.

So she nodded and smiled sadly. She scooted closer, unthreading her fingers from Eli's so that she could place her hand comfortingly on her back. She spoke softly, catching her eyes and holding them earnestly. “You're incredibly brave, Eli. These things _do_ take time, and whatever you decide to do or when to do it, I’ll be here waiting and supporting you.”

Eli’s eyes drew slowly off to the side, contemplating her words. Her lips pulled up ever so slightly, lifting her hand to slip it around to the small of Nozomi’s back. “Thank you,” she said softly, and when Eli met her warm eyes again, she knew that Eli truly meant it. Nozomi simply hummed, returning her smile warmly. 

The smile soon faded as Eli’s eyes lowered to her lips. Her breath froze in her throat at the unmistakable shift of attention as her heart kicked hard at the realization. Eli angled towards her, the action so strangely visceral though the subtlety of such a movement could have easily gone unnoticed in any other context. The air suddenly felt so charged and alive and Nozomi wanted to be kept on the edge of this excitement forever. 

“It’s almost midnight,” Eli mentioned softly, unable to choose between settling on staring into Nozomi’s eyes or at her lips. Nozomi found that her own gaze began to grow lax and fall to Eli’s mouth as her fingers curled into the back of Eli’s shirt . 

“Is it?” Nozomi breathed distractedly. “I feel so lucky, spending an entire night like this with someone as wonderful as you.”

The way Eli pressed her forehead to hers was so soft and careful. She wouldn’t have thought that it would have been possible to feel so light-headed from something that was so gentle. “It won’t be the only one,” Eli promised quietly, their noses brushing as she felt the words on her lips. 

“I know,” Nozomi said back just as faintly and she finally closed the last of the gap, pressing her smile to Eli’s. 

As Eli pressed against her, Nozomi wrapped her arms around her neck and eased back down onto the blanket. It seemed that for the first time, Nozomi realized, she wasn’t caged to the concept of the passage of time like she was so accustomed to being. Minutes were no different from hours if they were spent with Eli.

The only visible celestial body was the lonely sliver of the moon that shone dimly overhead, but being under it that night had never felt more comforting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello folks! tino here, and this is actually the first chapter that i'll be responsible for posting! :D there has been quite a bit of (very important) exposition in this and the last chapter, but it will definitely start picking up soon!
> 
> also, since it will virtually never come up in the story, i want to mention a thing here! so i know eli is canonically a quarter russian. BUT she is also blonde-haired blue-eyed. since she has those Caucasian-Coded Features™ i don't agree with the quarter part simply because those genes are so... aggressively recessive. it doesn't sit well with me. so i headcanon that eli is at the very least half/half. she is my precious mixed angsty russian werewolf bb.
> 
> once again, though, thanks for reading and supporting the fic! i know we really appreciate every click that this little project gets. c: <3


	11. Botan Candies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! it's been a while since we have posted, but we're finally ready to update up until the end of part two! sorry for the wait, but thanks for waiting so long to check this out. we're very excited for the chapters to come! c:

_His beady yellow eyes were wild and hostile, baring his yellowed fangs with his ears flat against his head. The low grumble in his throat and his hunched posture made her keep her distance, but at the same time, even though her instincts told her to run away, she was frozen in place, peeking from her cover behind a tall stone lantern. The fur on his neck and back stood on end, matted and dirty. She wasn’t able to tell where the caked mud and muck began and where the blood ended._

_Though her initial response was fear, the longer they remained in an eye-locked standstill, the more she started to understand. This wasn’t an animal looking for a fight, or even one who intended violence. This was an animal who was cornered and afraid, his limbs weak and quivering beneath him._

_This animal had unknowingly stumbled into her shaded garden to hide and recover, she realized. He may have even been aware of the fact that this place wasn’t completely safe and unoccupied, but he didn’t really have the luxury or time to find a better hideout._

_So Hanayo swallowed down the lump in her throat and slowly sat on the ground, painfully aware of the fact that she was making herself an easier target. If she was in a position that conveyed that it was less possible to bring harm to him, though, then maybe she could gain his trust._

_She considered her next course of action. Cats could eat sweets, right? And he must have been so hungry, too. Even if it was something small, it could be a start. So she dug in her pocket as carefully as she could, as to not alarm the animal, to surface a few pieces of rice candy. It was all she had, and it could hardly be called proper food, but it was something._

_She looked between the pieces in her palm and the animal frozen in place, the growl only a low rumble now. She unwrapped a couple of them and stared at them with uncertainty before she poised herself to throw one. At the last moment, Hanayo decided to roll it instead, and she bit the inside of her cheek and watched it bounce away from her._

_The cat flinched, eyes locked on the small treat. His curled lips laxed slightly, but otherwise he didn’t make any move towards it. Hanayo gulped and held her breath._

_They both remained like that for a while, and Hanayo was starting to reconsider this whole prospect. She didn’t think she would trust herself if she was in his position, either._

_Then, the unthinkable happened. His ears rotated towards her, regarding her cautiously before carefully coming forward ever so slightly to sniff the candy. He nudged it with his nose before taking it in between his teeth so carefully that Hanayo couldn’t help but think it was extremely cute. Once he discovered that it was edible, he wasted no time in swallowing it. Hanayo was pretty sure that the cat didn’t even chew._

_She tossed a few more, completely captivated. The fact that this was even happening was a feat within its own, and Hanayo couldn’t help but smile. The cat picked up each one that she offered, looking like he might have chewed one or two, but he finished quickly regardless. He watched her expectantly, but she had effectively emptied her pockets._

_“Sorry, I don’t have any more,” she mumbled, considering going to fetch something that would be more filling for a large cat. If she left, though, would he leave before she got back? That thought was saddening, to say the least. She felt like she had just gained a friend, even if the other party wasn’t cognizant of that just yet._

_So instead, she remained where she was, keeping an eye on the cat but not making a spectacle out of it. Hanayo allowed a prolonged silence to stretch between them, forfeiting the initiative to make something happen. She couldn’t predict what could possibly come from it, but she really wanted to get this right, so she would try to take it one step at a time. There was also ample opening for him to escape if he so wished, but so far he hadn’t taken that route. Hanayo deemed that as progress._

_The longer the both of them sat there, the calmer things seemed to become. He still seemed wary, but he was definitely less on the defensive, now. Eventually, he turned his head and started to lick at his matted pelt. She smiled a little._

_As long as she kept the distance, it seemed, things could remain like this. Hanayo admired the creature, leaning her shoulder against the stone structure. Even though he had surely seen better days, he was still remarkably beautiful. She hadn’t seen enough cats to know for sure, but she wagered that it was a bobcat. His features were surely reminiscent of that, but the only off-putting thing was his size. He was larger than any dog she had ever seen, that was for sure. It was incredible that something like him was out there roaming the countryside of Japan._

_School was more taxing than usual that day, and the weariness seemed to finally catch up to her. She hardly interacted with anyone of her grade, but when she did, she always managed to thoroughly embarrass herself. That day happened to be one of the testaments to that. It was the ever-looming realization of her seemingly permanent state of awkwardness and loneliness that weighed her down and brought her to seek more solitude._

_The time slipped away, and Hanayo found herself nodding off, though she tried her best to remain awake. But it was hard to resist as the sun descended from the sky and basked the garden in a warm, comforting glow._

_It wasn’t the first time that she had napped in the garden. In fact, she had some of her nicest naps there, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary. However, that day had already proven to be far from her routine. Even though her sleep felt deep and her eyes were heavy, Hanayo couldn’t have been asleep for long. She was roused by something prickly tickling at her face, which she instinctively jumped back from, wide awake and squeaking. Her heart rate soared and she briefly panicked, but when the cat kept his ground, she learned quickly that there was really no need to._

_He was now directly in front of her, watching her and flickering an ear. He was enormous from this close! It felt like he towered over her sitting form, and she gulped nervously. He barely reacted compared to her vehement response, continuing to sate some sort of newly developed curiosity he had for her._

_He sniffed at her knee, making a move to step forward more before her eyes drew to his hind leg. Even though he was hurt, he was still standing on it, but she saw that he kept his weight off of it as much as he could. She could see the parts of his fur that had been ripped out and where something–or someone–left bloody wounds. They had to have been fresh, too. He must have been in so much pain._

_Hanayo extended a shaky hand to him, directing his attention from her leg to her hand. He bumped against it, rolling his head into her palm just like a housecat wanting to be pet. She gasped._

_He was too cute! Hanayo couldn’t help but giggle, ecstatic that she had even gotten this far. This was the sort of thing that she only read about in fairytales. “It’s nice to meet you, too,” she greeted warmly, indulging him by scratching at his ears. “I want to help you, but you have to work with me and be patient, okay?”_

_Of course he wouldn’t be able to understand, but already she found that it was so natural to talk to him, just like he was a person. A sweet, nonjudgmental, patient person._

* * *

Hanayo didn’t mind being half-pulled by Rin around the shopping district. She may have been nervous over skipping a step or two and nearly falling on her face, but Rin’s enthusiasm was more contagious than she had wagered. She pushed herself to keep up, discovering very quickly that Rin’s energy seemed endless. 

Hanayo was more than a little excited to see what today had in store for them, and she liked being a little clueless along the way too. After so long of having a predictable daily routine, it was a welcomed change to freely sail on whatever wind came their way. 

“This looks like a great place to start, nya? Look, they’ve got cute decorations on the window too!” Rin squeaked excitedly, practically charging right up to the door. 

The cartoon ghosts and witches really were pretty cute, but she couldn’t get those words out before she was whisked into the costume store. It was one of a few they were going to visit today, and since they didn’t have any solid ideas, they were going to browse to see if they were inspired by any outfits or accessories. 

“Hanayo-chan! Look, I have like ten pairs of these at home!” 

Hanayo blinked and took a moment to rest her hands on her knees as Rin mercifully let go of her. She stopped at a display of headbands with animal ears on them. Rin sported a black pair of cat ears, smiling from ear to ear as she turned on her heels, showing them off. “Cute, right?” she beamed. 

Hanayo straightened up and hummed, smiling. “Those are adorable! Did we want to be cute animals then?” 

She could see the lag of thought that crossed Rin’s expression. “Um… maybe! But I was thinking something with more of a theme so we match really well! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“A theme?” she repeated. That could be a whole lot of fun to put together, and they could get really creative about it too. “Okay! What if we did… something like this?” She picked off a decorative hat from the nearest top shelf and put it on her head, though it was a little small. “Steampunk?”

“Steampunk!” Rin jumped up and clapped her hands together. “Or fantasy, do you think?! Or maybe a scary costume!”

“I can do makeup for wounds, and it looks super real too!” Hanayo chimed in. The way Rin’s eyes blew up in excitement caused a giggle to tumble from her lips. 

Rin took off her headband and eyed it for a long moment, grinning. “I think I wanna do something cute with you, though…”

Something cute? Hanayo smiled and nodded, looking to the headband. “Okay! Like a cat, then?” 

“Yeah! A cat and…” Rin trailed off and turned abruptly to scan the shelves of products. 

Hanayo began her own search as well, thinking about what went well with cats. Dogs? That would make them seem like enemies, though. Maybe she should be a witch, then? She knew that some witches had cats as familiars. At the same time, though, a real witch might find her costume offensive. Because of things like that, she tended to avoid costumes that resembled groups of real people, unless it was a specific figure or star. That certainly didn't stop other people from dressing up in flannels and snarling werewolf masks or pointy hats and exaggerated prosthetic noses. She didn’t think she’d ever contribute to that scene since there was plenty of discourse about it, especially in school around this time of year. 

“Alice!” Rin suddenly exclaimed, and Hanayo was jostled from her thoughts. 

She didn’t understand at first, tilting her head at Rin. Hanayo saw that she was currently studying a dress with starry eyes and a wide, proud smile. “Alice?” Hanayo repeated after Rin hadn’t said anything else. “As in the character from the novel?”

“Yeah!” Rin plucked the dress off of the rack, holding it to her body and twirling. The frills of the dress rippled with the motion before she paused and allowed it to settle. It really was quite pretty for something in a costume shop. “You can be Alice and I’ll be the Cheshire cat! Doesn’t that sound super cute?” 

Hanayo smiled, finding herself falling for the idea as well. “I love that idea! I imagine that you would look really cute in a dress like that, too,” she found herself saying. 

That had a reaction that she hadn’t exactly been expecting. Rin paused, holding the garment closer to her chest, and seemed suddenly very bashful. Her eyes fell to the ground before she replied. “Oh, well… I don’t know about a dress. I actually don’t look good in that kind of thing.”

Hanayo’s eyes widened at such an absurd statement. “What? That’s not true at all! U-unless you don’t think they’re your style…”

Rin shrugged, smiling sadly. “Don’t get me wrong, I love dresses and stuff. It’s just that they’re so pretty… and I’m not really…”

She wasn’t sure what came over her in that moment, but she stepped forward and plopped her hands on either of Rin’s shoulders, squeezing. Rin was taken aback, blinking and holding Hanayo’s intense eyes. Though she looked like she wanted to look elsewhere by the way her eyes kept meeting hers and darting away, Rin still continued to try. 

“Rin-chan,” Hanayo started adamantly. “You are pretty. Really, really pretty! Please don’t sell yourself short…”

Rin flushed, her cheekbones burning up a cute shade of red as she searched her expression shyly. Hanayo felt her heart kick against her chest. She only wished Rin could magically see exactly what she did at that moment but words would have to do. Hanayo felt like she was suddenly charged with the duty of enabling Rin’s confidence, no matter what. 

“You have the longest, prettiest eyelashes I’ve ever seen and the way your smile lights up your eyes is infectious and dreamy like a princess out of a fairy tale! Your energy is envious and you're so kind and outgoing that anyone can't help but to think it's endearing and sweet! You’re the number one prettiest girl I know!” She put her all into her words, not realizing how loud she had gotten until she noticed a couple walking by eyeing them curiously—even though loud for her was just a bit over most people’s speaking levels.

Hanayo jumped back and it was her turn to become a blushing mess as she squeezed her eyes shut. “J-just believe me on that, alright?” She squeaked and placed either of her hands on her own cheeks in embarrassment. 

When she opened a eye to peak at Rin, she was staring back, flabbergasted. Hanayo was more surprised over the fact that Rin must have considered this new information. These things should have been obvious, but she didn't mind telling her to help her along in realizing it. 

Rin shook herself out of her daze with a couple blinks and shyly brushed her fingers through her hair. “Geez, Hanayo-chan… what am I going to do with you, huh?”

Hanayo didn’t know how to answer that. She tried to contemplate a legitimate answer, but all she could do was give Rin a tiny shrug. It was almost as if she was waiting for an answer, but a smile started to pull slowly at Rin’s lips and she giggled. Hanayo couldn’t help but smile too. 

With a clap of her hands, Rin turned her back towards her and began to wander off. Hanayo jumped to catch up and began to walk next to her. “I want a costume I’ll be comfortable partying all night in, nya! Did you know I can do like a million cartwheels? I can’t do all of that in a dress!”

It was a reasonable deflection and Hanayo wouldn’t force Rin to do something she didn’t want to do. “A million, huh? Well, maybe something like a vest and bloomer shorts could be cute?”

Rin turned to beam at her, grinning all the while. “That sounds nyawesome!”

Finally over their impasse, Hanayo was starting to get really fired up. “Then we mustn’t waste any more time! We’re on a mission, Rin-chan!”

“Woah! Hanayo-chan, I didn’t know you were so passionate about this kinda stuff!”

Hanayo felt her face burn. She wasn’t really into many things and she didn’t often feel such a spurt of inspiration, but she wanted to do everything that she could for Rin. She had helped her out so much for only knowing her for so long, after all. “It’s a really big party and there’s a costume contest, isn’t there? So we need to do our best if we want to have a chance at winning!” She said with a small smile. Rin invited her to the party and Hanayo charged herself with the task of making make sure she had the absolute best time. And while she wasn’t a competitive person, Hanayo would push herself so that she could do this for Rin, at the very least.

After about a half hour more of casual browsing, Hanayo finally had a set idea of how to construct their outfits and the types of fabric they would need. She knew of a big fabric warehouse nearby, and she happily walked with Rin down a couple blocks as they talked about their favorite snacks. Rin explained how botan rice candies were her number one favorite sweet and Hanayo couldn’t bring up her voice as she stared at her in awe because those was her favorite, too. She always ran out quickly whenever she got a new pack because she couldn’t keep her hands off of them and she was always feeding them to her bobcat friend.

Speaking of which, Hanayo wondered if she should ever mention the fact that she had befriended a wild cat to Rin. She would probably think it was amazing and would want to meet him the next time he stopped by. But for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to mention him at all.

Hanayo was strikingly efficient in the yardage she wanted, the types of fabrics and colors, and the accessories that she would need to construct their outfits. She practically had the layout of the store memorized since she had been there so much. In fact, she occasionally saw one of the grad students from her department, Minami Kotori, browsing the fabrics as well. They had talked about anything from the sewing to anything pertaining to their majors and the campus’s department. 

Hanayo didn’t spot Kotori that day, so they were in and out quickly. Their final destination would be to buy cute shoes that would complete their outfit, so they decided to visit a general clothing store. 

They came up to the last store, and to her surprise, there was a security guard standing outside boredly in front of the doors. Hanayo hesitated, the imposing figure in her way causing her to deflate and shy away a little. She’d never seen someone like that standing out front before and she wasn’t quite sure of what to do.

After a moment, Rin took her hand softly and gave her a worried look. “Hey, are you okay?” She asked as she leaned towards her, realizing something was amiss as she stopped shy of the door.

Hanayo nodded smally as she looked over to the security guard, her hand tightening a bit around Rin’s. A couple people turned to enter the store and were stopped by the man. Hanayo watched in awe as some polite words she couldn’t catch were exchanged and the party unveiled their identification cards before being permitted entry into the store.

She didn’t know that this place was like that. It had been a while since she had visited here, after all. That is, since the changes were more heavily enforced. She wasn’t sure whether or not she had anything to worry about. Even though she was human, there were still uncertainties and anxieties she held onto about showing someone her classification sticker. It just didn’t feel like it was anyone’s business what she really was, especially not to a stranger. But she didn’t know any place near here like this store and she didn’t want to bother Rin by asking her to take a train somewhere with her. “Um… Rin-chan, I think we’re going to need our ID’s to get in. Sorry.”

“Huh?” Rin blinked at her and looked over her shoulder to the security guard. “Oh. Here?” Rin’s voice pinched up a bit tensely. Hanayo wasn’t sure why she sounded like that.

Hanayo nodded again and had to let go of Rin’s hand to shell out her wallet. “Is that… is that okay?”

“Of course it is!” Rin blurted out quickly, causing Hanayo to squeak softly in surprise. She had so much energy, how could she keep up?

Somewhat relieved that she seemed alright with the whole thing, she nodded and timidly approached the security guard. He turned to them nonchalantly and boredly looked down at the card she offered out.

“You’re good to go in,” he said under his breath and Hanayo scrambled in without another word, letting out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding as she relaxed. When she looked over her shoulder, she noticed that Rin wasn’t immediately behind her.

Rin had frozen before the guard, holding her phone and other things to her chest. He gestured for her to approach, a bit confused. Rin seemed to move in slow motion as she held up the card in front of him, the glimmer of the sun shining off of it blinding to Hanayo. He simply nodded and gestured towards the store just as he had done prior to her.

Rin walked in, her shoulders bunched up as she shoved her card back into the slip of her phone case, her numerous cat phone charms jingling at the motion. “H-haha… welp, l-let’s get started, shall we?” Rin laughed nervously and Hanayo furrowed her brow and parted her lips to speak, but she couldn’t quite get anything out as Rin bounced on ahead. 

There was definitely something up, but the way Rin deflected made it hard to push any questions onto her. Hanayo cursed at how easily she gave up.

The next hour easily distracted her from any worries she might have had. They chose shoes first, but decided that it would be fun to browse the rest of the clothing. Rin was an awful enabler, encouraging her to pick up every little thing she had her eye on. But she didn’t think she’d ever had so much fun at this store before.

“Hey, Rin-chan? You know, you haven’t really told me too much about yourself,” she said as they started down another isle. “How long have you been going to school at the university for?”

Rin looked confused for a second before realization lit her eyes and she gave a one-sided grin. “Oh! I never told you I don’t actually go to school there… I was just with Eli-chan that day. Sh-she had been talking about the tensions around campus and I accompanied her.”

Hanayo was blindsided by the confession. “So you don’t really go there… how is it that you know Ayase-san, then?”

“She’s my adopted sister! She’s also president of the university’s student government, so she’s really involved in campus life. So, in turn, I’ve been pretty interested in it recently.”

Hanayo nodded slowly. She didn’t know much about the student government or what they really did since there were thousands of students that attended their school. “Adopted sister, you said? That sounds fun! I’ve always wanted something like a sister.”

“Yep! Her, me, Umi-chan, and Honoka-chan are all sisters! You haven’t met Umi-chan and Honoka-chan, but I love them very much.”

Umi? Hanayo thought about the name for a second. She knew of one Umi–Sonoda Umi. Studying in the field of WWVS, it was near impossible to have not heard of the Sonoda name. But how could that be? She didn’t know anyone who adopted siblings like that that weren’t wereanimals, so maybe it was the Sonoda Umi she was thinking of–the one that was a werewolf.

It wasn’t unheard of for wereanimals to adopt all sorts of people into their packs--humans included. But, for some reason, an inkling of a ridiculous suspicion rode on Hanayo’s thoughts. Surely… Rin would have told her if she was…?

“Hanayo-chan, what’s wrong? You’ve got this knot in between your brows that’ll get stuck like that if you keep on with that face,” Rin said with a hint of concern.

“S-sorry, I was just thinking about what it was like to have sisters. How long have you known them all for? You must be so close.”

“It’s been about two years! Feels like forever, when I think about it.”

Two years? It was strange how that number rang a bell in her mind, but she couldn’t pinpoint why it did. Something struck her as eerily familiar about all of this. 

Hanayo didn’t have much time to mull over it as Rin’s eyes trailed from her own to peer over her shoulder. Hanayo also turned to look, catching glimpse of a pair of women; one had blonde hair while the other had long, wavy black hair. They were both shorter, too, with what Hanayo thought were very cute, fashionable outfits. The blonde’s green eyes met her own, noticing how her conversation slowed at the eye contact. 

She didn’t have much time past that when Rin seized her hand and started dragging her away. Hanayo squeaked, her attention jerking back forward as Rin rushed them around the corner of an isle. There was something panicked about her movements, desperately looking about before something caught her attention. 

She pulled Hanayo into a side room, suddenly met with mismatching racks and rows of identical doors. It was the dressing room, she realized. 

Rin ducked into the nearest open stall, Hanayo slipping in not soon after. The moment that she could do so, Rin quickly shut and locked it behind Hanayo. It was nearly impossible to gauge what happened purely by the expression on Rin’s face, but what Hanayo was certain of was that she looked incredibly anxious. 

After a hesitant moment of waiting for Rin to say something, _anything,_ she was not offered an explanation. Hanayo decided to break the silence. “Rin-chan, what’s the matter?”

She watched a battle of emotions on Rin’s face, switching between fear and frustration. 

“I…” Rin started, clearing her throat. “I, um… I saw some people that have given me a bad time in the past.”

Hanayo thought back to the two people she had seen, wondering if those were the people she was talking about. “A bad time…?” Hanayo asked, still a little too lost to know how to respond. 

Rin nodded, her attention seeming to be anywhere but the dressing room as if she was straining to listen for danger. “They’re a rotten group of people who hate me and my sisters and disagree with us on pretty much everything. They’re bullies!”

“Oh,” was all Hanayo responded with. She had known all too well what being the victim of bullying was like. It was a recurring nightmare to even lay eyes on someone who had caused her past harm. It made complete sense to her now that Rin had told her that. 

A moment later, a pair of gentle footfalls entered the room and Hanayo peaked out of the sliver in the door just in time to see the two girls they had just been talking about pass into view. The sound of a dressing room door opening and closing caused her to look at Rin with a furrow at her brows. What should they do? They should leave while they had the chance, but she noticed that Rin was frozen.

A sentence in a language that sounded like French sounded from where the girls headed, soft and sounding a bit like a question.

“Pretty soon, but we’re in no rush, right?” came a reply that she understood. 

There was a pause and a rustle of clothes. “Yeah, no rush! I just figured we shouldn’t keep Rei-san and the others waiting very long.” 

“Honestly, I’ll get any excuse I can get to get some space away from her.” She heard a heavy sigh.

“Oh… I take it you two aren’t doing so well, Eufie-chan?”

There was another pause. “Well… you know me. I don’t agree with everything that she does, and we clash a lot because of it. She’s infuriating.” 

“Yeah. You both are extremely hard-headed when it comes to what you want, too. I guess it couldn’t be helped that you would fight.”

“And when it concerns endangering other people’s lives, of course I’m going to have a damn problem with it.” 

“It’s not like I don’t agree with you… watching someone get hurt without doing a thing is just as bad as being the one doing the hurting…”

“That’s why I…” Her voice trailed off. “Wow, Maria, that’s super cute on you.”

“You think so? Hey, why are talking in Japanese? We usually speak French when we’re alone.”

“U-um,” was her nervous, off-guard reply. “No reason. Uhh, anyway. I’m just trying to keep someone from getting hurt at this point, since Rei hasn’t been heeding my words on anything. She’s so adamant about the path that she’s on, she doesn’t realize what she’s doing to the rest of us.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to stop her if she goes to far?”

“I hope so. I’m just scared that it’ll be too late that I won’t be able to do anything. You know how Rei works… you don’t know what she’s planning until everything’s been set into motion.”

There was some more shuffling as those words settled in. “Well, to be honest, if it comes down to it, I’m on your side.”

“Thanks for that. I haven’t given up just yet. If there’s anyone that can go against her without repercussions, it’s me.”

“That’s really true. She may not show it all the time, but you really are her world.” There were some distinct sniffling noises before she spoke again. “Hey, it smells an awful lot like cat in here, doesn’t it?”

“U-uhh, w-what, does it? I-I didn’t notice! Okaylet’sgo.”

“What? Oh!” Her voice pitched up and there was a noticeable amount of shuffling. Hanayo flinched when the dressing room door slammed open somewhere down the way. 

It sounded a little like a struggle, but there was giggling. “Eufie-chan? I thought you wanted to take your time!”

“It’s fine, everything fits fine, and you’re fine!” 

“Okay,” her friend agreed with more giggling. They disappeared somewhere into the store, and Rin and Hanayo were left alone again. 

Hanayo’s eyes went to Rin, who still seemed troubled but was also more thoughtful, now. Did the words that they had overheard have some sort of significance to her?

“Hey, let’s get you checked out,” Rin said suddenly, deflecting any sort of attempt to bring up what had just unfolded. “I’ll take you home.”

Hanayo swallowed, worried. This outing with Rin almost felt like she was leaving with more questions than answers. She gave her a small nod. “Okay…”


	12. Love This Curse

Umi struck a match, her mind slowing as she watched the flame burn down the shaft before it began to burn close to her hand. She turned it idly in between her fingers, the heat starting to singe her skin angrily. 

She leaned over and lit the candles on the floor, vigorously shaking out what flame was left on the match. She dropped the burnt bud next to the candles and sighed, her eyes lulling closed as she folded her hands together on her knees. 

All of her anxieties filled her mind as she sat in the quiet studio room. There was nothing here save for a wall mirror and the tatami floor. She spent much of her time gathering her thoughts and practicing kendo here; it was an ideal place to prepare. Her fingers picked at each other as she focused on every duty that was expected of her. 

She rehearsed in her head the words she was to say should any microphones or recorders be shoved into her face. Umi steeled her mind in preparation of looking confident, tall, and undeterred in face of her fear, worry, and uncertainty and thought of how her smile should look. She thought of how she couldn't fidget or furrow her brows or frown or about how she was to walk, of her place behind her father, of how deeply she was to bow to who and why, of her duties as the first and only daughter of a family of renowned werewolves who just wanted peace. 

The scent of the candles gradually flooded her senses—the sweet smell of roses and the earthy aroma of sandalwood drawing her out of the trap of her worried thoughts as the memory of the nights where she ran free along the countryside—the beat of her paws thumping loud in her ears and her breath ragged as she pushed herself hard across the landscape. Eli, Honoka, and Rin ran at her flank, careless and soaring above the grass. Her heart swelled as she thought of how far it was that they had come. Of what she had done for each of them and how Umi knew she couldn't be without a single one of them. She knew she couldn't fail them today.

She opened her eyes and looked down at the candles, her thoughts shifting to the girl who gave these to her. She didn't doubt for a minute that the candles were imbued with a magical force that really did help to establish confidence in her. She was thankful that Kotori had thought of her in that manner. Did it seem obvious that Umi was the type to really need these candles? Did she really seem as anxious as she felt? Or perhaps that was her accidentally dropping her walls around Kotori—showing her a side of her that ran from conflict, avoided responsibility, and acted like a frightened child. 

Minami Kotori… her father would sneer if he knew. With how old fashioned he was, she couldn't possibly imagine how she could change his mind about witches. She herself still needed time to truly understand, but she was already so far ahead of her time in taking the necessary steps towards a mutual, genuine friendship with Kotori.

A knock sounded at the frame of her door. Umi’s eyes never left the candles. “Yes?”

The door slid open. “Are you ready to go, Sonoda-san?” The attendant asked from the corner of the doorway.

Umi swallowed and bit her bottom lip before she leaned forward, blowing out the burning wicks in one strong breath. She got up from her knees and stood, turning towards the wall mirror to look over her persona. She smoothed out her pencil skirt and adjusted the lapels of her jacket. “Yes. I’ll be there shortly,” she replied, looking into the tired eyes of her reflection. 

She looked down to the corner of the mirror as the attendant bowed and stood, closing the door in front of her in the same motion. 

Umi sighed. It was just a couple hours, then it was over. 

She made her way outside, flanked by two guards that fell in step behind her. Neither of them said anything, which she preferred. They were provided for today because of some expected trouble, after all. There was no relation between their job and their allegiance to her family. 

Umi could handle herself in any situation that got dangerously physical, but guards looked a certain way and made her and her family appear less threatening. If they needed hired people to protect them, then they must have been just like normal people—that was the thought. 

She stepped out into the yard and up to the stretch vehicle parked out front. Her mother was standing outside, dressed in a beautiful traditional blue kimono, a parasol resting on her shoulder as she looked out wistfully to the country. 

“Mother,” Umi greeted with a small smile on her lips as she politely bowed her head. 

“Oh, Umi-chan,” the woman blinked out of her thoughts and turned to smile warmly at her, her amber eyes quickly scrolling her body. “You look beautiful.”

A gentle flush dusted her cheeks as she bashfully looked down and thanked her. “I’m not as beautiful as you, mother.” 

Umi took after her mom in every sense. She was a striking image of her, after all. Her mother was what she considered the perfect Japanese woman—everything that she wanted to be. She was kind, gorgeous, feminine, and the most talented archer she knew. 

“You both are beautiful—the two most beautiful women in all of Japan,” a deep voice sounded from behind. 

Umi turned quickly and bowed her head again—deeper than she had with her mother. “Father, good afternoon.”

Her mother turned and bowed her head as well. “Takeo,” she greeted simply. 

When she raised her eyes, she gauged the serious look on his aged face. He was fixing the cuffs of his jacket, his thick brows pulled low in concentration. “Afternoon,” he replied evenly, eyes flicking up to the driver that was leaning against the side of the vehicle. 

The driver stepped forward at the wordless command, pulling open the door for the lot of them. 

Takeo looked to her and her mother, his eyes softening as they approached. “Natsuko, if you would please,” he said as he gestured inside. 

Her mother smiled gently, collapsing her parasol before she nodded and climbed inside. He gestured with a flick of his chin for Umi to follow before he got in last, the door shutting behind him. 

The ride was taken in silence. Umi could practically feel the traffic of heavy thoughts between the three of them suffocating the cab. The buzzing of her father's phone went off constantly. He took short calls via his Bluetooth accessory, seeming like he was juggling the attention of twenty different people. Umi kept her eyes trained on the passing road as the conversations lessened to a hum in the back of her mind.

Country gave way to suburban scapes, the long roads filtering into big highways that brought them to the city, concrete buildings touching the sky. Traffic began to slow their trip as they passed into Tokyo’s Shinjuku district. 

The people on the sidewalks thickened as they neared their destination. Umi bit her bottom lip nervously at the unrest. There were people holding signs and chanting, restlessly protesting for stricter wereanimal legislation—amongst a slew of other demands and calls to action against anyone who wasn’t a normal human being. 

The car passed through multiple road clearances until they were pulled up to the drop-off lane proceeding a massive skyscraper. They stopped, waiting for the doors to be flanked by guards before it was opened. 

Takeo took Umi’s hand as he helped her out before doing the same with her mother. Media outlets covered every possible sliver of movement out front with their cameras and sound equipment. Numerous police officers were busy with setting up clearance tape. A conglomerate of media officials swarmed the edge of the walkway, blocked off by the yellow tape as it stretched tight and threatened to break as people pushed close with cameras and recording equipments towards them. No clear voices were discernable since they were all shouting questions and trying to get their attention. 

Umi looked to her father. He was already telling a couple guards to stand aside as he stepped up to the tape with his back straight. Umi stood by with her hands crossed in front of her next to her mother, who had unfolded her parasol and was twirling it idly on her shoulder as she watched. 

Through the onslaught of pointed questions, Takeo gestured for one person to talk clearly, the rest of the media people hushing but pushing their microphones forward. “Councilor Sonoda-san, we haven't seen a public appearance from you since the attack on anti-WWVS Councilor Hatoyama Tatsuya at the beginning of the week. Is it true that as his main rival, you staged the attack against him and have been hiding since?”

Umi was appalled and disgusted at such a question. She had to maintain a completely even facade as to not have her own reactions twisted against her in some outlying, horrible way. 

“That is completely false,” Takeo replied evenly, the diplomatic key in his voice a reverberating pillar of confidence and power. “I’ve been working tirelessly and keeping in contact with Councilor Hatoyama’s closest associates on his condition. I’ve also headed the investigation working closely with police to try and solve this issue. I can assure you that the attack was the doing of one lone werewolf. If anyone has many more information on the case, please contact the Tokyo Metropolitan Police.”

Another barrage of questions came in a solid wall of sound. Takeo pointed to the next person and neared their microphone, the heads of the rest of the sound equipment following him like one mass of living stalks. 

“How are you going to combat the calls for new legislation against werewolves?”

“I plan on performed my work as I have always performed my work. This is nothing new. Having an entire room of people who want the opposite of me has not stopped me from achieving what I have for my people so far,” he replied with a solidarity that inspired Umi. “Today at this conference, we will have an opportunity to share with other Councilors, high officials, and representatives why it is important to remember that we werewolves are people first and foremost and that they should do their best to remember that we want to be treated equally. That is why I have brought my family today. I hope to show them that by opposing me and my werewolf ancestry that the others are essentially opposing a Japanese family with traditions and values identical to the rest of you.

“I have time for one more question,” Takeo announced as he scanned the crowd for one last hand. He picked and nodded, stepping close to the last microphone. 

“Do you take responsibility for the attack on Councilor Hatoyama? Are you aware that your call for lax legislation on werewolves put him in danger in the first place?”

Umi’s folded hands tightened at the question. It was so easy for her to feel frustrated at such an accusation, but her father took it in strides.

“All werewolves are as much to blame for the attack on Councilor Hatoyama as a lone robber with a weapon at your local corner market is as much to blame for all humans. Having stricter bounds on werewolf freedom will not ensure that someone like this who is violent and angry will be locked down for long. And as the face for werewolf rights, I take complete accountability for the attack.”

Umi looked to her mother’s face as casually as possible in spite of her surprise, but her mother’s expression was equally as guarded as her own.

“If there are werewolves out there who feel like this attack was the only appropriate thing to do in light of recent times and hardships, then I have failed those people if they feel the need to take these matters into their own hands. Thank you very much for your time,” Takeo said as he stepped back and out of the cascade of questions that followed, falling back into line next to the body guards.

Umi and her mother bowed politely to the congregation of cameras and microphones and tailed behind Takeo closely, funneling straight into the building and meeting an attendant that gave them all guest clearance passes. There were no words exchanged between the three of them as they were led through the main hall. The ceiling was astoundingly tall, the vastness of the space echoing their footsteps and the sparse conversation between delegates reverberating off the walls like a timid choir. They were led to the double doors of a large circular assembly room. The temperature was uncomfortably frigid as if the air vents had frozen themselves over.

Most seats were taken around the venue, cameras pointed at every possible inch of the space from the rafters to the central floor. Umi didn’t allow herself to become shaken as most of the attention of the room shifted their way. She sent silent gratitude to Kotori for giving her the strength to keep her back straight at that moment. Umi’s amber eyes scanned the room, a name tag sitting in front of a corner chair garnering her attention in the midst of her churning mind. It read “Minami Emiko”. She felt a new affinity to the name, now having been directly involved with the Minami family and knowing well of the school for witches that they had established centuries ago. They had as much of a right to be here as she and her family did. This was an opportunity for not just her own family to speak up about the injustices their people were facing but for other important voices to use the platform and the attention to raise similar issues for witches and other categorically non-human minorities.

As Umi inspected the name tags adjacent to Minami Emiko’s, she bit the inside of her lip and averted her eyes. Of course, Minami Kotori was one of the seats next to her mother. 

Had she not met Kotori, she wouldn’t have even begun to try to see this situation in the way she did now. But now she understood that these problems were interconnected and couldn’t be dispersed as a whole if only one small issue to one group of people was addressed at a time. 

Wereanimals, witches, and even vampires all had problems that were related to what wanted to be unveiled today, she had come to realize. She didn’t try to speak to her father about her thoughts, however. He was stubborn, busy, and too focused on the safety of werewolves and his family to advocate for much else, let alone the group of people who had cursed his kind. The old path set for him was strict and specific. He knew what he had to do and his agenda for social justice did not include much room for change outside his sphere, witches and vampires be damned. It was a selfish way to live but anything else would be asking too much of someone who was so set on what he needed to do. 

She couldn’t find the courage to try and convince him of his purpose otherwise, let alone doing so and revealing that she was “fraternizing” with the enemy. She didn’t want to see what would happen if her father figured out about her speaking with Minami Kotori.

Her family took their seats at the front of the rows of tables. The last members of the press and missing officials filled the room, her eyes purposely avoiding the corner of the room where the Minamis sat. Camera lights flashed as the various television stations went live. Umi balled her fists tightly together in her lap.

* * *

“What?! They’re trying to cancel Halloween?!”

Umi swallowed hard as she nodded sternly. 

“How are they gonna do that?” Rin questioned, frowning. 

“They can’t,” Eli said curtly, pushing off of the counter in her kitchen and striding into the living room. Her fists bawled at her sides. “They don’t have the means to make demands like that.” She looked to Umi, hoping to see confirmation that her bold statement was true, or anything that told her it was impossible on Umi’s troubled facade. “...Right?”

Umi’s busy thoughts trailed across her face, her eyes watching her fiddling fingers pointedly. “I don't know. You can't really stop an entire holiday, but it could be dangerous to go out. Nothing went well yesterday. No one wants to understand and listen. There’s just anger and stress.”

“What exactly happened?” Honoka asked meekly, worry knitting her brows together.

“It started with the statements of the current anti-WWVS laws and how they weren't nearly as strict as they needed to be in order for humans to feel safe. The ID clause will be the least of our concerns if they manage to push even a third of the ridiculous legislation that was discussed through to the government for voting. There was talk of a law that would make it legal to carry firearms and even how shooting a transformed wereanimal on sight could be considered an act of self-defense.”

Rin stiffened in horror. “That’s awful… sometimes we can't help transforming!”

There was no comfort to be given to combat the worries that plagued all of them. 

“We tried all that we could to talk sense to everyone to try and alleviate some of the tensions by saying we were ready and willing to work to make our country safer for humans, but their idea of safe includes a Japan that doesn't have us living in it...” Umi said stiffly as she trailed off. 

“So did they _threaten_ us?” Eli pressed, her frustration beginning to mingle with irritation.

“There were threats made. Nothing rational—but they're gaining traction and getting very organized. There’s intention and trouble. That much is obvious,” Umi explained gravely. 

Honoka groaned out, collapsing into her folded arms. “Halloween the one time we get to have fun! Why do they have to take this away too?” she moped.

“I know they’re scared, but how is cancelling Halloween going to help with anything?” Rin asked quietly from her corner of the room, her brows knitted together in confusion as she slumped against the wall.

“Everyone… it’s hard to say what there is to do at this point. What I can do. I’d like to go celebrate on Halloween day as much as the rest of you… but...” Umi murmured, trying to figure out how to break it to them that there was absolutely no way they were going out to celebrate as planned.

“We’re still going to the party, aren’t we?” Rin asked suddenly, leaning forward into her words as she gave Umi a strangely worried look. “There hasn’t been any news of it being cancelled and isn’t there some kinda security anyway? We have to go,” Rin continued, her gaze darting between Honoka and Eli for support in her desire.

Eli’s lips pressed into a thin line, eyes trained on the floor. “We can’t keep living in fear like this. If Nishikino-san hasn’t wavered in her decision to have the party, then maybe she’s trying to set an example for the rest of us. I think this is more of a statement than we all realize.”

The faces trained on her took on their own expressions of confusion. 

“What’s that mean, Eli-chan?” Honoka asked with uncertainty in her voice.

“It means that after so long remaining at a standstill between the two sides, something’s about to happen. Call it instinct, but I think we want to be there in the case that something does occur.” A nerve-wracking thought, to say the least. “We can’t just give up now. We’ve come this far, so if we remain complacent with their decision, that would signify to them that they’ve won.” 

Umi rose with intent, her fists tight at her sides. She knew for a fact that if it was her father in this situation, he would not shy away. She knew that if it was her mother, she’d find a way to remain poised and figure out how to work things into her favor despite the circumstances. 

“You’re right, Eli,” she started, dispelling the looks of worry from Eli, Honoka, and Rin and replacing them with that of an invigorated light of relief. “Hiding away on a night that is important to all of us would be admitting defeat to those who want to lock us in. To the anti-WWVS movement, it’s just a party. But to us, it’s a place for us to feel safe with others like us and to enjoy that one night with reckless abandon. If something were to happen, I don’t think there would be a safer place to be than at the sides of other werekin.”

“I knew this wouldn’t stop us!” Honoka breathed in relief, smiling again. Her shoulders eased and she lifted her head up. “Now we can focus on dinner again!”

Rin snorted and placed a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. 

Umi physically deflated, her palm flying to her face. “That doesn’t mean we don’t have to be careful, Honoka!”

Honoka jumped, quick to wisen up a little. “I wasn’t saying any of that,” Honoka clarified with a mumble, puffing her cheeks out. “Of course we’re gonna be super careful…”

Umi turned back towards Eli with a deep sigh. “Anyway, let’s go for a run tonight. I could really use the exercise after a full day of sitting.”

True to her word, after dinner, they stretched and prepared to head out for the night, a hum of excitement motivating everyone. It had been a while since they had gone out like this, after all. 

Umi excused herself to the bathroom, closing the door behind her and sighing as she pressed her back against the wood and slid down it onto the cold tile floor. She was worried. She didn’t want Eli, Rin, or Honoka getting tied up or hesitant over how uncertain she was over her decision to go to the party. Also, she couldn’t be on her phone and maintain a sense of privacy in that sense. Her sphere of friends was strictly kept between the four of them and it would have been strange for her to do what she was about to do in front of her sisters without raising questions.

She glided a finger over the display of her screen and opened up her email. She started a new message and began typing, finding that she was falling more into the habit of confiding in Kotori at times like this—in times where she just needed another perspective or some reassurance. But Kotori needed to be available first. Umi didn’t know very much about her yet, but she knew that she was generally available after dinner time.

Her message was as formal as she could compose it. Better to seem too formal than too familiar. It read: _Good evening. Sorry for being a bother. Are you free to talk?_

She hit send and waited for a response, staring at her inbox with her brows furrowed. There was a rush of unsourced, general anxiety as she tried to distract herself with the messages from Honoka that she had already read and replied to.

Then, her device buzzed and she perked up, opening the new received email with slightly shaky hands and her heart drumming against her throat. She quickly scrolled the characters, swallowing hard and her shoulders slackening to relax. 

_Evening! ♪( ´θ｀)ノwwwww. You’re not a bother at all! I’m not doing anything. Is something wrong? (・・;)_

Umi stared at the cutesy text, a smirk threatening at her lips as she placed a tentative hand over her heart. There was no need to be so nervous. Kotori was pretty easy to talk to. She just couldn’t help the initial unreasonable fright, despite her knowing better. She let out a shaky sigh and composed a reply, thankful that Kotori was free after all. Even a few messages of talking about this would lessen the burden on her shoulders.

_Thank you very much for your time. No, nothing is wrong currently. I just got a moment to myself and wanted to ask you something. I just spoke with Eli, Honoka, and Rin about what happened at the conference and they’re all saying that we shouldn’t give in and let something important like Halloween be taken away from us. I agree. There seems like there is no other way to approach this mess but to approach in confidence. However, I also feel like it’s a mistake to try and act like these changes aren’t affecting us and we can go on without being overwhelmed suddenly. Do you think I’m wrong to put up a front that I don’t know I can hold? They don't know how hard it is for me to say that this is alright. I want to believe in that myself. I really do. But do you think I’m lying to them by pretending everything is fine?_

Umi pursed her lips as she spelled out her worries and pressed send after a quick proofread. Eli and Rin had an idea of these responsibilities on her shoulders. Could they ever understand how deeply it dictated her every move? Or how often she thought about the choices she had to make and why and how she exhausted herself over choosing the safest path for her and her sisters? Could they understand how big of a deal it was that she had resigned to going to this party after all?

The reply took only a minute. Kotori was fast and she was thankful for that. She didn't want to be stuck in the bathroom any longer than it took for everyone to notice her prolonged absence. 

_Sonoda-san, I don't think it’s lying at all! We say things that we wish could happen and talk about things we want all the time. That doesn't mean that if those desires don't come true, you were a liar all along. I think you made the right choice. Nothing changes if we don't do anything in the face of adversity except the fact that we incur changes that we don't want. ^^;_

Her head sagged as she pressed the edge of her phone into her forehead and rested there for a moment, eyes closed as she thought over the words. She hesitated before returning to the bright display and typing her next message. 

_You’re right. But I fear that if things turn wrong, I will not only be responsible for failing to be more careful, but someone I love might get hurt and I could never forgive myself. It’s a situation asking for trouble and I know that the surest way to dodge trouble is to step out of its web the first second I see it._

The response came another minute later: _That’s a valid concern. But with the way things are working up, I think it’s going to be impossible for anyone to not get hurt. You know, the worst thing that could happen is that if something sour turns out and you didn't end up being there, you would regret it even more. You four need each other now more than ever. And I’ll do what I can to help, but you haven't told your sisters about me yet, have you, Sonoda-san? ( ´_ゝ`)_

Umi’s brow twitched as she stepped back for a moment and observed herself. There was a bit of her pride on the line that prevented her from mentioning Kotori to everyone as much as it was the fact that she didn't want to sound like a hypocrite for admitting she had a witch acquaintance when one of her inherent personality traits was to constantly be distrustful of them. The whole situation was so strange to begin with. 

_Forgive me. I haven't. It's difficult to determine where to start._ She replied. 

Her device buzzed and she read the next new lines of characters. _I wouldn't mind meeting everyone! If you ever decide that that should happen, I’m all for it! ( ◠‿◠ )_

Kotori was brave. Much braver than her. Umi considered what it would be like for them to meet similarly to the first time they had ran into each other. Could she make it seem natural that Kotori just happened to fall into their lives and become involved? 

There wasn't long to dwell on the possibilities as footsteps pattered down the hall and a gentle knock sounded on the door above her. 

“Umi-chan, are you almost ready to go?” Honoka asked. 

Coming to stand as quietly as possible, Umi reached forward and engaged the flush on the toilet. “Just a minute,” she called back over the rushing water. 

“Okay!” Honoka exclaimed and Umi could hear her bound off to the main room.

With a sigh, she readied one last message, hesitating at the end of it before she typed something that she hoped would amuse Kotori. 

_You’re something else. I’ll try to think of a way for that all to work. But I’ve got to go. Thank you for your time. Don't be afraid to confide in me as I have you. It’s only fair, don't you think?_

_. . .(´ｰ｀)_

She didn’t wait for a response, instead heading back out to the main room where Honoka waited, her hands folded behind her back. Umi quickly glanced about and saw that Eli and Rin were nowhere to be found. 

“Eli-chan and Rin-chan went ahead to go and stretch,” Honoka informed her with a nod. 

When her eyes returned to Honoka, she couldn’t help but feel like there was something more going on in that moment. Umi slid her phone in her pocket, lips pressing into a thin line. “Honoka?” she asked cautiously. 

Honoka jumped at the tone that Umi used, casting her eyes downwards. So there was something on her mind. “Umm… I wanted to say something to you, ‘cause I realized something,” she started somewhat meekly, completely tipping Umi off to whatever was bothering Honoka. 

“Did anything happen?” Umi asked, approaching her slowly. 

Honoka shook her head. “No, no. I mean, I guess I wanted to say that I didn’t realize… what this stuff really meant. Halloween and stuff, I mean. I just thought it was a time for people like us to have fun.” Honoka looked to Umi for a moment but was quick to look off again. “But... I’ve been learning that it’s a lot more than that because people are trying to say that we can’t celebrate it. They don’t want us to celebrate because they hate what we are.”

Umi frowned, understanding now what had begun to plague Honoka’s thoughts. Truly Umi’s heart ached for her. She had realized such a harsh reality herself a much longer time ago. It didn’t make confronting it any easier, though. It was always a matter of time before they were all forced to shed their blissful ignorance and see everything for what it truly was. 

“And they hate that we love who we are,” Honoka continued, an edge of frustration in her voice. “It’s the one time we decide to celebrate as an entire community, and it only happens once a year. But even that is too much for them! They don’t want us to be happy or have fun at all.” Her hands returned to her sides as balled-up fists. “It’s cruel. Why do they want to stop us from being ourselves? It’s not like we can just forget about it and it goes away. But that’s the thing; I don’t want it to go away either. I got close with you and Rin-chan and Eli-chan because of all of this, and I love all of you so much! How can we be wrong when becoming a werewolf has only made me happier?”

Umi was suddenly winded in a way she couldn’t explain. A gentle smile came to her lips, the warmth of such a confession—though obvious in the way that Honoka never took a moment with them for granted—leaving her light and happy that she heard it from her like that. She constantly worried about how she might have affected Honoka’s life by forcing this curse on her. It was a relief from the thoughts in the back of her head that had plagued her for years, and she was thankful that Honoka didn't resent her for the way that she thought today. 

They hardly ever talked about very serious things like this and Umi gladly took the opportunity to become closer with Honoka, if that was at all possible. “I know what you mean…” she started, looking around once more with a thought towards Eli and Rin before she took a seat at the table and beckoned for Honoka to sit next to her. She did have something she wanted to say reserved to this moment. She already had a similar talk with Eli and Rin. 

Honoka moved over with heavy steps and plopped down next to her, her head sagging a little. 

“You know… my father once told me that fate is cruel. The way that we are born and what happens to us ultimately is out of our control. And though he would never wish this kind of life upon anyone, he and my mother had me,” Umi started, giving a one-beat, dry laugh. “He knew the hardships of what it was like being young and a born werewolf and the kind of talks he would have to have with me—some informational, some that I departed wiser than I was when I had first sat down with him, and some painful.

“At the conference, I was confronted with one of those rare moments where I saw pain in his eyes, if only for a second. You’re never really faced with what kind of progress you think you might have made until everyone a whole room of people who’ve been fighting you every step of the way are trying to beat you back and silence you, acting like what you have done is meaningless and insignificant. That’s because you can’t ever really prepare for those moments in life where fate has decided that you will lose. No one ever likes being told that they’re going to lose, after all, even when you’re fighting for something that’s supposed to make things better for everyone in the long run. But that doesn’t mean that those moments are what define us.

“We left there proudly, having done our best to advocate for the safety of werewolves, trying to level with words everyone might understand in a room of lawmakers that wanted to see us shut down and out of sight. We bared the scars of their hurtful and ignorant words on our backs and still managed to leave tall and undisturbed. Talking civilly afterwards with those same lawmakers, bowing respectfully and treating them with the proper mannerisms and politeness that they know they don’t give back or deserve is a statement in its own. That’s a powerful image,” she said, her voice lessening in its intensity as her eyes became glossy as she tuned out everything around her and revisited those moments, truly believing in what she was saying.

“We’re strong, Honoka,” Umi continued, blinking and returning back to her friend’s crystal blue eyes with a comforting smile. “But we’re only strong in solidarity with each other. I think that’s the reason why my father really brought me and my mother to the conference. He’s on his last legs and he needed the shoulders of his family to lean on—he needed to be cheered on and constantly reminded why he was doing this so that he could perform his very best. It’s easy to get lost in the politics and the underhanded accusations and the blame when you’re just someone so easily made the scapegoat. Together, we are each other’s reasons to go on.

“That’s why you’re completely right. It isn’t wrong to be this way. None of this is within our grasp of control and we can’t help that. Even though things are hard, we have one another. That’s why we’re here and that’s the reason why we pull through these things even though they hurt,” she leaned and put a hand on top of Honoka’s. “I’m proud of you and how far we’ve come. It means a lot to me that you love this curse even though it doesn’t love you. That’s enough to keep me going in the meantime, so thank you.”

Honoka held her eyes for a long moment, but it was immediately apparent to Umi when she began to waver. The tears started forming around her eyes, but she smiled softly regardless. She wasted no time in throwing herself into Umi, hugging her around her chest.

Though Umi was somewhat prepared for a reaction like this, she flushed in embarrassment and awkwardly returned the embrace, her gaze averting to stare at the ceiling. “Wh-what's gotten into you, huh?”

“Umi-chan! I’m just so happy. I love you!” Honoka happily declared, squeezing her tighter. “We’ll always be together, and we’re stronger that way too. And there’s nothing anyone can do about it!”

She took a moment to soak in those words, adapting a content smile as she leaned her cheek a bit onto the side of Honoka’s head and squeezed her back, enjoying the inner and physical warmth of someone she knew she couldn’t live without. She didn’t know where she would even be without Honoka. 

After a tender, long moment of the embrace, Umi remembered that they couldn’t be here forever. She curled her lips into a lecturing smirk as she pulled away, teasingly poking Honoka’s forehead once with a jab of her finger. “Well, if you really love me, then you’re going to perform well on your run tonight, isn’t that right?”

The sudden wash horror on Honoka’s face sent a twitch to her brow. Her smirked melted away as she seized both of Honoka’s cheeks and pinched them. “Isn’t. That. Right?!” She asked with gritted teeth and an accented tug on her face with each word.

Honoka whined and flailed, clapping her hands onto Umi’s to try and pull her away. “Umi-chaaan! I’ll try really hard, okay!?”

“Hey you two, aren’t you ready to go yet?!” Rin called from the front door.

“You’re lucky I happen to be in a good mood,” Umi sighed as she softened her assault, letting go but taking a moment to place either of her palms flat onto either side of Honoka’s face and squeezing affectionately before pulling away. “Let’s catch up, then.”

Honoka remained where she was, pouting and patting at her cheeks. As the two of them funneled out, it didn’t take her long to adopt a little smile, though, bounding after them. “Wait for me~!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another chapter on the way! the next few chapters are huge and take place at the same place, the party! so there will be a lot happening. stay tuned and drop those kudos or comment if you've already done that! see ya'll soon!


	13. Dance Until You Die (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we go! the party! we're so excited to post this because these events signify some very large turning points in the fic. but those real exciting things will have to be saved for the next 3 or 4 parts, depending on how we separate it out, as this is a super long chapter (7k words with 28k WORDS TOTAL spent at the party. good lord). for now, have some fun and some fluff. also, we get some pretty language from yours truly, nicomaki, just as a warning! hue. thank you for reading and please find some time to drop kudos and comments! thank you!

The booming bass reverberated blocks from its source, making it known that the final party of Halloween was in full swing. From the front gates all the way to the back of the estate, crowds and groups of friends and partygoers littered every corner of the courtyard. 

Nozomi stepped up through the people, eyes wide as she tried to understand what exactly it was that she was seeing. Costumes and lights and even spells complicated the clarity of the crowd. There was nothing held back at this party. 

A prick of worry embedded itself in her side. She almost didn't want to move forward. It had been years since she'd been around this many people. The added layer of alcohol complicated with people masquerading about in costumes that shrouded their identity was enough to make anyone nervous. But Nozomi found solace in the idea of protection in the form of Eli and her sisters. She pressed forward, intent on finding everyone and forcing away the edge of concern that she knew would continue to linger in the back of her mind until she was sure things were alright. Plus, she didn’t think she could handle looking into the future and seeing an outcome of the party that she couldn’t change. She had to enjoy things now as they were or else she could never find peace in the moment if she always lived in the hours ahead of her.

Someone sputtered loudly behind her and she turned over her shoulder, blinking as she remembered her company. 

“Ugh! That asshole just blew smoke into my face!” The girl behind her complained as she coughed and waved the air in front of her furiously with a fingerless-gloved hand, one of her crimson red eyes screwed shut. “ _Blech!_ ”

“There seems like a lot more than that ahead, Nicocchi,” Nozomi giggled as she relaxed a bit and took a moment to admire the costume her friend wore. It was so _Nico_. It was a rock-n-roll esque black and pink ripped-stockings get-up. Her hair was done like normal into her twintails with a fake blonde extension clipped into them. Nico defended the fact that it was idol-y because of the plaid skirt, crop-top, and the cute black lace combo. And the fake mic, Nico supposed. She didn’t look too convinced of her own explanation afterwards.

“Whatever. As long as this party gets me laid, it’s the price I have to pay,” Nico sighed as she took the lead and trudged through all of the people, Nozomi following with a large smile.

“You didn’t come here to be with me and meet Eli? I’m shocked,” Nozomi continued conversationally, having to speak up since they were nearing the epicenter of the party as they entered the courtyard.

Nico rolled her eyes and gave Nozomi a sharp look. “Oh shut up, I know you’re not. Of course I don’t want to third-wheel the whole time.”

“It’s going to be Eli and her sisters, as well. Honoka-chan and Umi-chan might be single. But you don’t really like werewolves, do you?” Nozomi asked rhetorically before shrugging and stepped into the archway of the front double doors with her friend. “Well, there’s also Rin-chan. But something tells me she’s a bit tied up.”

“I literally don’t care tonight. But I know for sure that I don’t want to get laid with someone I might be seeing anytime soon. I want someone who isn’t clingy,” Nico said as she surveyed the party, looking for nothing in particular.

It was insanely busy inside of the mansion, the foyer filled with chatting people moving in the low-light and lining the banister of the twin staircases. The powerful pulsing of the music was in the room ahead, connected by several archways leading into a large ballroom.

It was also a stunningly gorgeous place. There was a cast iron chandelier in the center of the foyer that was lit with dim candles all along its curved arms. Spider webs and ornaments and moving props decorated the walls and ceiling. Stained hardwood floors, marble pillars and fixtures, magnificent velvet drapes, and large paintings of faraway places were just a fraction of the items to marvel at. Every flat surface was covered with platters of food and drinks with attendants constantly cleaning and checking the displays. There was a multitude of Halloween lights of flashing oranges, purples, and whites that served as the main source of light in the room. 

Nozomi was the first one to pause the gawking amongst the both of them, thinking back to their previous conversation. She grinned and nudged Nico playfully. “You know, I didn’t know you were the one-night-stand type, Nicocchi.”

Nico’s eyes drew back to her, regarding Nozomi blankly. “Hey, why don’t you just _tell_ me if I find a girl?” Nico turned towards her, completely ignoring what she had said as her eyes grew wide. “It’s only expected of you at this point if you don’t want me to swim in nothing but booze for the rest of the night.”

“Well, that’s one way to threaten me! You know, I do care. But if you really insist...” Nozomi grinned as she put her hands together.

“R-really?! W-well, quit standing around and tell me!” Nico said, her fists balled at her side as she looked to Nozomi expectantly.

Grazing shoulders couldn’t possibly be uncommon in a place like this, but it had to have been an unhappy accident to have someone run head-on into her. She bounced back upon collision, but the person before her almost didn’t budge. 

“I’m sorry,” Nozomi said reflexively, knowing full well that she wasn’t truly to blame at all. She looked up to the woman before her, who was about Eli’s height. Though she was a taken woman, Nozomi could certainly appreciate when she saw an attractive woman, and with her sexy school teacher costume–which was inherently what it would be called if it was bought off of a shelf–Nozomi was temporarily tongue-tied. 

Slightly surprised mulberry eyes met her own as she lowered the camera she had currently been holding up, letting it hang by the strap around her neck. The notion easily pulled the eye to her chest, She smiled, swiping stray pieces of olive green hair behind her ear. “No, it was my bad. I wasn’t watching where I was going. There’s just so much to look at, y’know?”

Nozomi smiled as well. “Yes,” she agreed. “It’s really quite overwhelming.” This woman’s particular aura stood out to her, the nature of its thundering hum familiar to her. Nozomi knew of plenty of people with this kind of aura as of recently. She was dating someone with energy just like it—which meant that this woman was a werewolf. 

The woman pushed her glasses up, scanning her and smiling. “Maybe I could help you out, then? I’m no stranger to this scene, so maybe I can introduce you to a thing or two and make it a little less overwhelming, hmm?”

With the woman’s tone of voice and that flirtatious smile on her face, Nozomi was aware of what she was possibly implying. Perhaps in another time she would have been enticed by such an offer, especially by someone so objectively charming and pretty, but she wanted to find Eli as soon as possible. She was far too excited to meet up with her and her sisters since they had been raving about this party all week.

“That truly is sweet of you,” Nozomi replied with a chaste smile. Just because she was taken, though, didn’t mean she couldn’t do a plug for a friend. “However, I do have someone I’m planning on meeting soon. Though I’m sure Nicocchi would have little objection to such hospitality?”

“Huh,” Nico grunted from behind, finally making a noise after all this time. She must have been preoccupied with ogling. 

The woman’s eyes settled on Nico as she brought the subject to her. It seemed like she had actually noticed Nico for the first time. It was so slight that it was easy to miss, but the woman’s lip began to curl in a way that one would only do with something distasteful before she smoothly covered it with a smile. “Oh, silly me. Now that you mention it, I am also a little tied up. I ought to not keep her waiting for too long.”

Ouch. Nozomi kept her smile painstakingly even, nodding. She dared not look back at Nico else she risked making it more awkward than it had already become. “How unfortunate, but I suppose it can’t be helped.”

“What the fuck?” Nico murmured, her eyes pressing to slits.

“Bye,” the woman quickly said, moving past them with a newfound (and somewhat comical) urgency. 

That was when a familiar head of pumpkin-colored hair caught Nozomi’s attention. It looked like they wouldn’t have time to talk about the awkward interaction that they just had, thankfully. Nozomi turned and waved as she called out to the passing figure. “Oh! Good evening, Honoka-chan! Your costume is very cute!”

“Nozomi-chan! Hi!” Honoka halted and greeted excitedly, grabbing the ends of her black and red bat cloak and swinging around in a dramatic demonstration. It was a historical vampire costume like the ones people liked to use in the movies, complete with the popped-up collar, a stylish hat, and a fake set of fangs. “Hey, you look super cute too!” she said with a big smile. 

“Thank you,” Nozomi smiled wide, looking down to her white off the shoulder blouse and bloomers. Her hair was done into one thick side-braid decorated with flowers and vines. She adjusted her bag on her shoulder as she did a half twirl. “It was a bit last minute, but I think I make a good Rapunzel!”

Just then, Nozomi remembered Nico glaring over her shoulder, looking off-put and annoyed. “Nicocchi, this is Kousaka Honoka. And Honoka-chan, this is Yazawa Nico.”

“Hi! You’re a friend of Nozomi-chan?” Honoka asked, eyes wide.

There seemed to be a hesitation as Nico contemplated Honoka, eyeing her up and down before she gave Nozomi a sour look as she crossed her arms. _You really think this girl is my type?_ Nico’s expression seemed to ask. “Yeah. It’s nice to meet you,” Nico murmured, giving a nod towards the other girl before she turned her attention elsewhere, obviously uninterested in further conversation.

So, Nico was going to be good-mannered after all. Sort of. Maybe she would tell her if she was to meet anyone tonight if she continued to behave. 

“Where is Elicchi and your other sisters?” Nozomi inquired with a gentle smile.

“Elicchi?” Honoka repeated, seeming to take that in for a moment before her smile returned as big as ever. “They went to get some drinks!”

“I see. Could you lead us to them? I’m excited to see everyone’s costumes,” she replied.

“Sure!” Honoka nodded, swishing around with her cape and bounding off.

Nico kissed her teeth and followed after, grumbling under her breath. “What the hell? What about my costume and my amazingly cute charm? Is that girl blind? Is EVERYONE here blind?”

It was more of a trek from the main foyer to the bar than Nozomi had anticipated. There was something different to see at every corner with dancers grinding against one another and loud, drunk friends shouting over drinking games. It would have been easy to get lost in the fray, so she made sure that she stuck close with her party else she get separated from them. The last stretch towards the bar counter was less eventful, and she saw Honoka take off and throw her arms around someone.

“H-hey! Honoka! Careful, I have drinks in my hand!” Umi cried, desperately trying to balance the two party cups she had in her grip.

“Umi-chan~! Hi! I found Nozomi-chan!” Honoka announced, smiling.

When Honoka stepped away and beamed up at Umi, Nozomi got a full view of her pirate costume. The bits of lace, cute decals, and the skirt were endearing, since Umi hardly seemed like the feminine type. 

“That was actually quite fast,” Eli said from behind them, making her presence known and turning around on the barstool. As she faced them, Nozomi naturally scrolled Eli’s costumed form, her brows perking up. Eli’s attire was something that Nozomi interpreted as a Hollywoodization of an undercover agent’s regalia. It was just inherently Eli, really; the sleeveless turtleneck, fingerless gloves, leather belt, and thigh-high boots were so befitting of her and her eloquent yet stunning style. 

Not usually one for being caught off guard, Nozomi recovered quickly from her gawking and placed a hand over her coy smile. “Wow, you look incredible, Elicchi.”

Nico, on the other hand, had the social competency of a four year old as she stared with her jaw on the floor and shouldered past Nozomi, pointedly looking to Eli with her eyes wide. “Oh my god, you’re Ayase Eli? Fuck, I acted like a total ass to you when I first met you but holy shit you’re gorgeous.”

“And this would be my friend, Yazawa Nico,” Nozomi gestured to her. 

Eli was taken off guard by Nico’s forwardness, blinking a few times and managing a timid laugh. “O-oh? Well, I do remember you as well. There’s no hard feelings, really.” She swiped blonde hair behind her ear, smiling at her. “Thank you. You look wonderful too,” she replied. 

That gave Nico a smug little grin, finally getting the bit of recognition that she seemed to pine for. “Finally!” she grumbled. 

Eli met Nozomi’s eyes before scanning her as well, taking in the details of her costume. “And… wow,” she laughed airily, looking away with rosey cheeks. “You... you look so beautiful, Nozomi…”

Nozomi felt her face light up, her hand falling from her lips as she shyly went to fix the flowers in her hair. She didn't think she could ever get used to Eli’s compliments. “Thank you…”

Nico’s previous victory was all but forgotten, now. She grunted and turned away, collapsing onto Nozomi’s shoulder dramatically as she began to fake cry. “That’s your girlfriend? Dammit, she's so mature and pretty like how are you going to get a prettier girlfriend than me before I even have one?” She whined. 

Nozomi blinked and simply patted Nico’s back with a one-sided smile. She was so much! Nico was absolutely hilarious, but Nozomi had wondered herself how it was that fate had decided to bring the two of them together, out of all the people in the world. 

Honoka gasped loudly in a sudden realization. “Hey, hey! You two are just like Rapunzel and the thief from that animated movie!”

Umi squinted and tilted her head towards the two of them, obviously confused. “What movie?”

“Umi-chaaan!”

Everyone’s attention shifted to an ecstatic Rin towing a shy girl by her hand as they cleared through the rest of the dancing bodies around them and to the section of the bar they were inhabiting. “Those are our drinks, nya? Thanks a ton!”

The image before her was heartwarmingly saccharine. Rin had the most adorable vest and bloomer outfit complete with a cat tail and ears while the girl behind her took on the familiar dress and apron of Alice from the children’s books. The Cheshire Cat and Alice, then? Very cute. 

Nozomi eyed the unfamiliar girl, tapping into the flows of energy around her that she had been ignoring since the start of the party. The strange flowing streams resonated just around her skin, comparable to the way slivers of blood vessels ran within the body but projected in an invisible display of spiritual anatomy. 

She was unmistakably human judging by how often she saw this particular pattern, but there seemed to be some sort of boiled, erratic, coursing strands that ran opposite of the flow that shined a different color that was as indescribable as any of the other colors of typical energy she saw—there were no names for the colors she saw, after all. They weren't on the visible light spectrum. But the patterns of what she could tell were different reminded her of Nico’s energies the way that they surged and looked. 

It took Nozomi a fraction of a second to search her mind for her name as she navigated through the direction of time just minutes into the near future. It was just like looking back on a memory. While a bit hazy, it was fresh like it had already happened. She could see the lot of them standing there as Koizumi Hanayo introduced herself timidly. Nothing too exciting. She forced herself to stop looking into the future with a sense of discipline that she was trying to exercise and uphold.

Amidst the slightly awkward introductions, Honoka burst forward with unparalleled energy. “Hey, everyone! We need to go to the opening ceremony! It’s starting soon!”

* * *

With each passing year, the pomp and circumstance, glamor, and popularity of her party seemed to grow exponentially. Maki was practically regarded as a celebrity in the community for it, though she had no real political prevalence outside of her yearly celebration. It was a factor in her popularity, the other being the fact that her family was among one of the few remaining lines of pureblood vampires in Japan. The fact that they were world renowned surgeons also helped, having been in the field for over two hundred years now. 

So, such a party of this magnitude was only a natural ability expected of a Nishikino. Though she was still only 26 years old, Maki was yet finding her own calling in the shadows of her parents. By any vampire’s standards, still seen as a child in their eyes and even to the world at large. That meant making her own image for herself, one that wasn’t already largely preordained by her family’s accomplishments. 

Maki she couldn’t recall anyone from her bloodline becoming this popular among mainstream culture. It felt like a perfect match for her, and she thrived in this scene. 

From her personal chamber she could easily hear the DJ that she hired calling to the crowd, and their cries and shouts in response were loud and passionate. Lively electronic music kicked in, and Maki looked up one final time into her full body mirror, meeting her eyes in her reflection. She had to resist the urge to shudder. Suppressing the desire for a moment more, she did a once over of her costume, as regal as her name demanded. Lush reds, blues, and golds adorned her form, her coat hugging her shoulders while the soft, white fur trim of the collar tickled at her skin. Her brown bodice was hand-embroidered with gold decor, her lace and gloves an impeccable white. Her favorite part had to be her crown, though, denoting royalty of a high caliber. Maki’s hair was tied into a small tail that rested on her shoulder. 

When she finished glancing over the details, she met her own gaze in the mirror again. Her lip curled up into a snarl, feeling her skin prickle as she held her own eyes. She hated how a simple mundane object held such authority over her, and though she tried to conquer the uneasiness, it always fell too short. The sensation became too uncomfortable, and she had to turn away from the reflection, shaking that feeling of her skin crawling. 

Maki looked towards her three awaiting attendants who were all standing at the ready with their hands behind their backs. The women were not dressed in festive costumes, instead donning matching black tailcoat suits. “Why do we own so many fucking mirrors?” she found herself asking, pulling her coat more onto her shoulders and holding out her hand towards them and glancing towards the grandfather clock. 

“I can’t be sure, Nishikino-sama,” Tsubasa replied easily as Anju stepped forward from behind her to hand Maki the final piece of her costume, a decorative scepter. “I do try to avoid them when I can.”

“Me too, yet here we are.” Maki sighed irritably. “I guess a thing such as a rich-fuck mirror quota exists, even for people who can’t stand their own reflections.”

Tsubasa smiled in amusement. “In any case, I don’t think you would need a mirror to know that you looked stunning.”

Maki looked to her, pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes. She rumbled lowly in her throat before looking away, shrugging. “Do you only say that because I pay you or what?”

“I mean it in the most sincerest of terms,” Tsubasa returned. 

Maki’s attention returned to her, and she watched her for a moment longer before humming noncommittally at her answer. “And I pay you to say that, too.” Compliments weren’t new to her, but when it came from someone like Tsubasa, it was exasperating. Maki still couldn’t decipher why that was, though. 

Tsubasa simply grinned at her, flashing a pointed set of canines. At that point in time Erena peeled away from the back of their formation, beginning to head to the door. “Nishikino-sama, the party has hardly started without you. Shall we make our way to the stage, then, to properly commence the celebration?” she asked, turning to her and motioning to the door with a bow. 

“Yeah, I’ve been keeping everyone for long enough,” she agreed, stepping forward. Immediately Tsubasa and Anju took to following her from behind while Erena took the lead to shield her from the front. They made their way to the ballroom where the epicenter of the commotion resided, beginning to see a more consistent trickle of guests lounging about, talking and laughing amongst themselves. 

The pulsing music became louder when they approached the side entrance, noticing that the people parting out of their way fell silent as they passed, pointing Maki out to their friends.

“Look, it’s Nishikino Maki!”

“Wow, she looks gorgeous…”

“Something cool’s about to happen, I know it!”

The crowds began to grow thicker, and Erena freely began shoving people out of the way with relative ease. “Clear out of the way! Keep moving!” She shouted over the noise. Not many people took well to being shoved while trying to dance and move to the music, but when they saw who was coming through, the straightened up and stepped aside. Many people did not need second reminders, either, when it was Erena at the front of them, her expression adamant and her lips curled in annoyed snarl that revealed her sharp fangs. She was one of the only people that Maki knew that struck such an intimidating presence without having to do much of anything. And Maki had the feeling that she got quite a bit of satisfaction exercising that power as well. 

The massive, open space was mostly dark, aside from the array of light sticks and the randomly roaming colorful beams. The stage was glowing with oranges, greens, and purples, cycling through the colors at every hit of the beat. Two massive LED monitors with visualizers reacted in real time to the music while the center one displayed a graphic that read “Dance Until You Die 2011.” Tall speakers lined the set and vibrated powerfully with each bass kick, supported by other speakers just like it framing the entire room. 

The four of them approached the stage, and finally Erena stepped to the side, turning and surveying Maki as she made her way up the stairs. She looked to the DJ, secured on her own specially elevated platform, and nodded. When it arrived at the perfect moment, the music ended on a powerful chord, and the crowd reacted by wild cheering. One of the sound techs handed her a microphone, and she headed towards center stage with confidence. 

A limelight followed her, the massive displays switching to project her as the cameras pointed towards the stage. Hundreds of cheers sounded, a thunderous applause welcoming her onto stage. She grinned and waved out at everyone, putting the microphone to her lips. “Everyone! Good evening!” 

The reception was as warm as she expected it to be, scanning the hundreds of faces that were all on her. For the thousands more watching the broadcast, she waved to the camera as well. 

There were a few howls that erupted from the werewolves in the audience, a few other folks joining in as well. “I’m Nishikino Maki, your hostess for the evening!” 

She had to pause to allow more cheering, continuing on shortly after it died down a little. “Well, it’s been a year already, huh? It seems like everything’s passed so quickly… well, even quicker for those of us in the room who live a couple decades longer than the others do.” That earned her some laughs, and she shrugged and continued on with an amused smile. “I think we can all agree on the fact that the events of this last year have been taxing on many of us, as well. From the public magic ban,”—That earned her a chorus booing—”the attack and demands placed on Unplanned Vampirehood,”—Another pause for an onslaught of discontent—”the infamous Supernatural Identification Clause, and even the attack this past Monday that led to a nationwide ‘cancellation’ on Halloween...” 

That one caused the crowd to react the most volatilely. Maki was glad to see that everyone was as pissed off about it as she was. Their mere presence there was rebellion of a higher caliber. “We’ve had to put up with a lot that none of us deserve. But I’ve got a message for those who are trying to silence us and who don’t think that we aren’t proud enough to continue our celebration. During our pride month.” She looked straight into one of the cameras, eyes narrowing. “You’ll have to do a little better than toss around some words and papers if you plan on getting rid of us. But even then, we’re not going anywhere.” 

Maki felt a soar of pride when everyone erupted in a thundering ovation. She smiled. She meant every word of it, and she was glad to see they all felt the same too. After taking a long moment for the applause to subside, she continued. 

“This is a month for us all to come together to celebrate all that we are and commemorate what we have been through as a community. If only for a night you can look past your werewolf-witch rivalries, the policing of magical ability within the community, the ridiculous amount of vampire hate… like, seriously, I will probably decide that none of you can leave until you hug a vampire or something.” The cheers she received when she said that was fractional to the roars before, but they were still there regardless. “We’ve still got a lot to do before we are seen with the respect that we deserve, even among our own communities. But really, it’s easy to get caught up in the small things. So, let’s all take a moment to remember why we’re here, and what this time means to us. And of course, to get excited!” 

She motioned to the large screens, making her way to the side as the applause roared on. Everyone’s attention remained on monitors as they faded to black, and soon the noisy crowd died out too. 

The displays came to life with energetic music in a welcoming fanfare to clips of Halloween decorations, cheering people, and dancing groups. They were recordings of her party in the years prior, recalling unforgettable nights of past Halloween celebrations. The crowd cheered along, pumping fists and light sticks to the beat. Popular witch bands and vampire singers that had performed on Maki’s stage flashed by, and a guitar rift transitioned them into a sky view of her estate, making it obvious from even that far that it was alive with hundreds of people. It showed the pool next, scrolling across its cascading waterfall and catching the tail end of a toast in the jacuzzi. The shot ended on the ever-popular poolside karaoke before fading into individual shots of people—vampires, wereanimals, witches showing off their costumes and having fun while doing it. 

The modern dance music in the background began to fade into the beats of older, more nostalgic tunes as the clips became older and older, tracing back to a time different than their own. The same sorts of people could be seen congregating, but instead of in celebration, it was in protest. Signs with slogans and calls to action littered the view with people shouting and shoving at rows of riot police. 

There were plenty of iconic places and figures from around the world that were recognizable to the crowd, as signified from their roars of approval. It consisted pretty largely of advocates and activists from the West. After all, as a country, the notion of things like witchcraft or vampirism were shunned in Japan for generations. It was practically considered taboo to even mention it, actually. Only in recent time did these conversations begin to pick up momentum. Halloween was an even newer concept, but it was something that their communities needed and desired more than they would have thought. 

What little history Japan had concerning the global movement wasn’t anything to shrug off either, though. There was older footage of the Sonodas shaking hands with the emperor, earning a chorus of howls from the werewolves in the audience. The face of a previous Minami headmaster was iconic as well; he stood proudly at a congregation for the opening of a school of witchcraft, one of the most prestigious in the world. It was also expected that her own family would also appear; her parents tended to patients calmly and professionally, even demonstrating their composure under pressure. Their abundant experience was among some of the most unparalleled in the world, becoming two of the most desired practitioners in their field. Pureblood vampires dominated any field that they dedicated their copious amount of years to. The same would be expected of her one day, as well. 

All of those stories, experiences, and hardships came together to lead up to this very moment. The video concluded by driving that very point home, and right on cue the confetti cannons blasted millions of colorful pieces into the air, floating down onto the masses. Maki smiled lopsidedly. 

She stepped back on stage, shouting into the microphone, “Happy Halloween everyone! Remember why we party and celebrate this month! Without further ado, welcome our guest performers, Lycan Nation!”

By that point in time, she spotlight was no longer on her as the werewolf dance crew bounded onto the stage, wearing matching sets of knee-cut shorts and wide open-chest vests. The booming music kicked up with screaming and cheering that was enough to deafen sensitive ears. Maki rejoined her awaiting servants and left the assembly, seeking out quiet refuge in one of the lounges. 

“That was very well done, Nishikino-sama,” Erena commented. “I expected as much from you, however.”

Maki hummed, pausing. The three of them halted as well, looking to her expectantly. “Hey,” she began. “It’s your party too. Go and celebrate. Get a few drinks. Lose the professionalism a little.”

Tsubasa’s brows shot up, blinking. “Nishikino-sama, you—”

“Don’t make me order it either. I won’t need your services for the rest of the night,” Maki interrupted. It was always a struggle to remind them that they were their own person as well, regardless of what her parents may have done for them. They had already done enough for the Nishikinos to pay them back a thousand times over. “Plus, it’s awkward trying to meet people with you three hanging over my shoulder.”

She watched the silent exchange of glances between them. They certainly weren’t expecting to be released so soon, and Maki found it a little amusing that they were sort of at a loss.

Finally, resigning, they came shoulder to shoulder and all bowed in unison. 

“Very well. Many thanks, Nishikino-sama,” Tsubasa said. 

“Don’t hesitate to call for us either,” Anju added. 

Maki nodded and waved them off, already feeling less suffocated with them gone. It wasn’t that she disliked their company—quite the opposite, actually—but it was nice to be without them sometimes. She could only handle so much of barely being able to sniffle without being offered a bath or refreshments. 

Maki headed off in the opposite direction of the three vampires, starting to make mental plans for what the rest of her night would look like. It had barely begun, after all.

* * *

Nozomi didn’t think she had ever seen anything so grand. She had never been to an event quite like this. Having been hidden away in her shop since she moved to Tokyo, she realized that she still had so much left to see. There was an entire universe undiscovered—a universe parallel to the normal human life she tried to lead. The video that Nishikino had prepared was proof enough that there were so many perspectives of this life that she was completely unaware of. Her initial worries of this place were completely dispelled by the end of the inspirational presentation. 

As the music boomed overhead and the crowd went wild with the excited pulse, her eyes drew down to the wolves, Rin, Hanayo, and Nico. Through the strobing lights and overhead dimmers, saw that Umi’s eyes were wide and her hands clapped together softly—too soft to even make a sound. Honoka and Rin had their arms up, waving around wildly and balancing their drinks with happy grins stretching across their lips from ear to ear. Hanayo was jostled around between the two, her face flushed as she adorned a sheepish smile and enjoyed how everyone else seemed to have so much fun. Even Nico had a nod going as she bounced to the music, her attention taken by the dance crew on the stage. 

And then Nozomi looked to Eli, who was slightly faced away. Her gaze fell down the curve of her backside, watching her hips sway as clapped to the beat, her tempo perfect like clockwork, her movements effortless and loose. She brought her eyes back up, amused at how intensely she was absorbed in the show as well, feeling like she had to squint at her, she was shining so brightly with energy. A gorgeous light sheen of sweat was at her brow as she glowed with an otherworldly delight.

A smile pulled up the corners of Nozomi’s lips. She was lucky to have these people in her life—lucky to have them come in when they did and inspire her to step out of her shell. Maybe she knew where she would be without them if she had simply kept to herself, but it was too painful to think of falling into that possibility. She knew exactly what that looked like and it wasn’t a happy one. She saw it first-hand and knew she could change things for the better. Her future visions weren't always permanent and she was glad she mustered the courage to get Eli to return to her shop on that empty day. 

The dance crew finished their performance and a roar of approval carried through the crowd as the werewolves dispersed through the party and the music shot up to an impossibly loud decibel, electrifying everyone to burst into contagious dance themselves.

Naturally, Umi and all of them decided to break from the scene and rest off to the side. Nozomi felt as though she was in a dream—a being looking in on this scene intrusively as she wordlessly went with the flow of things and took everything in how it was. 

Eli glanced at her, making to look away at something else that commanded her attention before her head whipped back in a double take. She tilted her head and leaned close with a quirked brow. “Are you alright, Nozomi?” She asked as privately as she could over blaring music and the chatter of her sisters and company. 

“Yes, I think I just need a drink or two,” Nozomi said automatically in a lower voice, knowing well that Eli could hear her better than she could her. It was true. She just needed to relax a bit and get into the partying spirit. 

Eli searched her for a moment longer, trying to decipher anything of use before her brows relaxed. “Then let me get something for you and we can go and dance afterwards,” she offered. 

Nozomi knew she couldn't say no. She preferred Eli’s company. Something about having her strong werewolf girlfriend with her at a mysterious party was a welcomed thought, after all. She smiled reassuringly and reached out to take Eli’s hand into her own.

Eli threaded their fingers together, her hold firm but comforting. She looked to her sisters, calling their attention. “Hey, girls. I’m going with Nozomi to get something to drink. We’re never too far away if you need us. Just call my cell.”

“Okaaay!” Rin acknowledged as she put up her cup, its contents splashing out just a bit. Hanayo squeaked behind her as she looked down to the floor where it splattered. 

“I’ll take care of everything here, Eli. You don't have to return anytime soon. Please go enjoy yourself,” Umi said as she leaned in towards her with a nod. 

“Well, when you put it that way, I do worry,” Eli said with amusement. “Worry that you’d sooner toss your night out taking care of everyone rather than enjoy things yourself. So make sure that you have some fun as well, alright?”

A small smile came to Nozomi’s lips. Umi was definitely the kind of person to have needed to hear that. 

Umi hesitated, her brows starting to furrow before she shook her head and brightened up. “You’re right. I will.”

“I’ll make sure Umi-chan has lots of fun!” Honoka declared, her hand shooting in the air. She now turned to Umi, beaming at her. “If you drink enough, you won’t be able to worry about anything!”

“That’s just asking for things to fall out of place,” Umi muttered. “Not to mention ridiculously irresponsible.”

“God, you’re leaving me?” Nico went to rub at her temples, giving a ragged, annoyed sigh. “Yeah, I think I'm going to need to start swimming if I'm going to make it through the night.”

Nozomi knew Nico would be fine on her own. She had a strong enough personality to find something to do on her own and didn't really want to tag along with her and Eli the whole night. 

“Me and Nozomi will catch up with you girls later after we have a drink or two,” Eli assured them.

“Hey, do you like singing?” Honoka asked towards Hanayo, who squeaked and stuttered a response. Nozomi couldn’t catch the latter part of the conversation that spurred on after both her and Eli parted ways from them, heading into the sea of people. 

They progressed slowly through the mass of moving bodies, the air thick with the scent of alcohol and perfume. The heart of the party raged on, the music deafening as they broke through to the other side of the ballroom and out a set of archways. 

Nozomi kept hold of Eli’s hand tightly as she lead the way, giving her a chance to admire her from behind. Eli was so much taller than her, her confident strides cutting through the crowd effortlessly. With her costume and the surrealness of such a busy party, it seemed like she was caught in a fantasy world where she was being stolen away to some unknown destination. She found much relief in the feeling.

Eli turned back to her, stopping and pulling Nozomi close to her. “Hey, you cross me as the kind of person who doesn’t like to taste her alcohol. Is that true?” she asked with a lopsided smile. 

Nozomi blinked and looked past her to discover that they had come to a counter that extended to either side of the room. Behind it there was a staff of tenders, dressed crisply in black and white uniforms. The entire wall behind them was stocked with bottles and beverages, of different shapes, sizes, and colors, ready to be mixed and served at request. “I’m not in love with it, so you’re right. Why, did you have something in mind that you wanted me to try?” She gave Eli a sly grin of her own.

Eli held her eyes for a moment, smiling growing a little. “Yes,” she said simply, leaning onto the counter and making eye contact with one of the bartenders.

She tilted her head a bit, intrigued by the challenge Eli presented herself with. Nozomi leaned onto the counter next to Eli, their sides brushing as her eyes swam back and forth over the shelved mosaic of bottles.

She ordered for the both of them, throwing around a bunch of fancy names and terms Nozomi couldn’t begin to decipher, and the bartender nodded. “I’ll get those right away,” he said, noticing the pair of sharp fangs behind his lips. Nozomi was still getting used to being face-to-face with people that she knew weren’t human, and to have them in such an abundance around her made her feel like she was in a different world entirely. 

He turned and grabbed one of the bottles from the collection, starting down the way to collect other items. Nozomi caught herself wondering upon how it was that they could keep track of what was where in such an expansive collection.

“So,” Eli started, turning to Nozomi and pulling her from her thoughts. “What do you think so far?”

A gentle gust of laughter left her as she surveyed her surroundings contemplatively. “It’s definitely surpassing any expectations I might have had… it’s so lively and fun to look at.” Nozomi paused, turning to meet Eli’s eyes with a diminishing smile. “I feel like an outsider looking in. Like I don’t really belong… but I suppose that’s to be expected.”

Eli’s brows furrowed, taking Nozomi’s hand in both of hers. “Of course you belong, Nozomi. You may not realize it yet, but it’s true.”

Nozomi’s gaze fell to their hands. “You think so…? It feels almost sacred here—sacred for you and all of these people who don’t get to be like this anywhere else.”

Eli smiled sadly, squeezing her hand reassuringly. “But that’s exactly it. You’re not infringing because _you_ belong here too. What sort of reaction would ‘normal’ people have to you if they knew about your abilities? Good or bad, they all react the same to things they don’t understand.” 

It took a moment as she measured the truth in Eli’s words. That may have been right, but with the amount of times she had heard someone call her abilities a blessing—whether or not they knew the full extent of her clairvoyance—it was unlikely that she would be shunned like a magic-practicing witch. 

But she _was_ different. There was no debating that. Imaging someone being scared of her because of what she could see was an unwelcome thought. But she appreciated how Eli was trying to include her and it warmed her heart. She hardly belonged anywhere, after all. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make the conversation serious or completely about me. Knowing that you welcome me here is as much validation as I need.”

It almost seemed like she was going to press the issue, as if she could nearly see through her veiled answer. But Eli resigned and smiled, her shoulders dropping as she visibly eased. “Sometimes all that we need is a little validation. You can always expect that from me.”

“Can I?” She smirked playfully and turned her hand over, her nails tickling Eli’s wrist. “That seems like a heavy burden you’re taking on. I can be a little needy sometimes. You might get sick of it.”

Eli’s smile turned more mischievous as well, humming. “Do you really think so?” she asked, eyes drawing to their hands. “Because if anything, I want to see _every_ side of you.” 

The way Nozomi’s heart knocked against her chest just then was enough to send her entire mind sprawling, her smirk fading and her brows shooting up. She felt her cheeks burn as she tried to inconspicuously gauge Eli for some sign of jest, but she wasn’t the kind of person to joke about something like that. Did Eli have any clue about how easy it was for her to disarm her completely?

A soundless bit of laughter tumbled from her lips. She wasn’t quite used to this yet. “Maybe you will,” she replied coquettishly, reinstating her playfulness to cover for her brief fit of heart palpitations that rivaled that of a lovesick high school girl’s.

Eli laughed easily, not seemingly fazed by the boldness she just demonstrated. Or maybe it had all been completely unintentional. She posed even more danger to Nozomi’s heart, then, if it was so effortless. “I look forward to that, then.” 

It didn’t take much longer before they had their drinks in their hands. They continued to chat idly while soaking up the party atmosphere. Nozomi learned something quite quickly about Eli–she had a prevalent alcohol tolerance, not batting an eye as she requested an ensemble of straight vodka shots that Nozomi was sure could kill a lightweight.

Eli eyed her lineup of clear glasses, a hint of hesitation on her features as she turned to offer one out to her meekly, perhaps not wanting her to feel left out of the festivities she was single-handedly about to partake. Vodka was definitely too heavy for her, however. Nozomi swirled the contents of her fruity drink around in her glass as she gave a reassuring smile, politely declining the offer. The stark contrast of Eli’s ensemble of shots to her single modest drink was amusing. Nozomi, though not a heavy drinker in the least bit, colored herself impressed at the prospect of the intimidating line of alcohol.

Eli grinned and picked up her first shot, offering it out with a flick of her eyes to Nozomi’s own glass. “A toast?”

Mirroring her grin, Nozomi carefully brought her glass up at the invitation. 

“In Russia, we toast to a lot of different things. So how about… _za shast ye_?”

Russian? This was the first time she heard her speak it so clearly and not under her breath. She wished that Eli would indulge her curiosity of the language around her a little more. She loved the sound of it—its strange, harsh syllables were so different than what she was used to hearing in Japanese. Nozomi blinked and tilted her head. “What does that mean?”

“It means, ‘to happiness’,” Eli replied simply.

A brief exhale of laughter left her. Yes, she could toast to that. “I see. To happiness, then.”

Their drinks clinked together, a muffled, glassy note sounding between them. Nozomi thought she might melt underneath the warm look Eli gave her as they both turned the bottoms of their drinks up.


	14. Dance Until You Die (Part 2)

Honoka and Rin whisked Hanayo away the moment she mentioned that she enjoyed singing, wanting to put her skills to the test with the poolside karaoke. Hanayo screamed for help, but Umi and Nico watched with painfully even expressions as she called out to them and disappeared into the bulk of the party.

Umi allowed herself to deflate, having been out of the company of all of her sisters for the first time that evening. Eli’s plea stung in the back of her mind. She really did need to take it easy. So many stressful things had been weighing on her lately, it couldn’t hurt to let go just a bit for the night. But sitting silently at a table sipping on a glass of wine with a stranger wasn’t exactly how she pictured turning around her night. 

Nico was buried in her phone, the pads of her fingers flying and audibly swatting at the screen as she typed. Umi’s eyelids flinched slightly with each forcefully selected character. There was no way Umi was going to try and disturb someone who looked so annoyed and concentrated on what she was doing.

Umi bit her bottom lip as she tapped her fingers on the table patiently, amber eyes darting around the party that unfolded around her. She sighed and brought her wineglass up to her face, pressing the glass idly against her chin as she contemplated if another drink was too much.

“You know, for someone who’s so poised and famous, you really are socially clueless,” Nico started, causing Umi to wince as she was addressed.

“That was very rude… you’re nothing like Toujou-san,” Umi murmured, her breath fogging up her glass. Nico kissed her teeth loudly.

“Well, you’re right about that. I’m not like Nozomi at all. I just can’t believe I’m stuck with the girl who can’t hold a conversation for the life of her,” Nico continued, her words surprisingly lacking the bite that they called for, her attention still absorbed into the display of her smartphone. “But you don’t like witches anyway, right? Being a werewolf and all.”

Umi gave a thousand-yard stare into the wall as she downed the rest of her wine in one swig. How did she manage to meet more witches within the past month than she had in her entire life?

“Yeah, thought not. I’m talking to a friend who’s on her way to rescue me, so when she gets here, I’ll get out of your hair. She’s a witch too, so I’m sure we’re the last company in the world you want to keep,” Nico shrugged as she put her phone down onto the table, her eyes scanning the crowd. 

Umi allowed herself to get a good look at Nico while she was distracted. What would Kotori think if she could see her now? She was sitting here talking to another witch and she wasn’t trying to alleviate the tension between them at all after learning about who she was. Giving a defeated sigh, Umi straightened up a bit and placed her empty glass on the table timidly. “I actually don’t mind witches as much as you’re implying. That was a wild accusation, at best, since you know very little about me.”

Nico rose a brow and lazily brought her gaze back to her. “Really now?”

Umi felt a tinge of annoyance. As if Nico knew more about her than she herself did! “Yes. If I was anything like how the rest of my family reacts to witches, I wouldn’t even be here.”

Nico eyed her searchingly and gave a one shoulder shrug. “I suppose you’re right. We can’t help how we’re raised, after all.”

“We can’t. But we can help how it is we perceive and react to the world, though those influences may blind us at first,” she said, easing back into her seat a bit as she felt some of the tension physically disperse at the gradual turn in conversation. 

“Well, if you’re seeing things that way, you’re way more mature than me. I guess it’s just the smell of wet dog that still turns me off to most werewolves,” Nico replied, one of her elbows planting on the table as she brought her chin into her propped palm.

The corner of Umi’s mouth twitched. At least Nico owned up to a degree of immaturity. She would let the stereotype slide. Umi wasn’t great at gauging jokes, but she figured that the jab was meant to be funny, considering the type of person Nico seemed to be. “I can’t say anything bad about how witches smell. Even you smell like some sort of earthy pine underneath that comically heavy cloud of perfume you’re wearing.”

Nico snorted and recoiled at that. Hesitantly, she brought up an edge of her leather crop top to her nose and sniffed a couple times. Umi cracked a smirk. She supposed her joke wasn’t received that well, either.

“Anyway,” Nico blurted after a long moment of her squinting her eyes and sitting with her crop top pressed to her face. “We’ll see just how much you can stand witches once my friend gets here. She tends to make people around her uneasy for no real reason other than her aura. I know that ‘cause Nozomi told me about it. I can’t see the aura myself, but I can sure as hell feel it. Not trying to be an ass about her, of course. She’s a great person. It’s just ‘cause she’s an overwhelmingly powerful witch.”

Being introduced to the whole notion of energies and auras was still so far out of her reach of understanding. Granted, as werewolves, they had a sixth sense capability, but it was hardly explored. Umi could only furrow her brows. “Overwhelmingly powerful?” Perhaps it was just coincidence that Umi thought of—

The clatter and rattle of beads cut through the backdrop of party clamor, causing Umi’s attention to draw over Nico’s shoulder. Her eye immediately caught the glittery translucent material of a purple veil, cloaking her shoulders. The detail in the costume was astounding. 

She looked like a professional belly dancer. Soft blues, purples, pinks, and golds composed her outfit. The golden bar drop decorations lined her layered—and quite frankly short—skirt, also drawing her attention to a bare abdomen. Rhinestones and beads decorated her top, and even her necklace and headpiece adorned bead jewelry. Umi would have rather gotten lost in the rest of the details than bring herself to look at her face and realize that her warm caramel eyes and ash brown hair were immediately familiar to her. Her stomach dropped.

“Nico-chan, good evening!” Kotori greeted as she neared, her face flush and her smile bright. “I just ran into a bunch of old high school friends and couldn’t turn down having a drink or two with them! They were so sweet!”

Nico made an exasperated noise and stood abruptly. “Nice to know everyone else in the entire world is having fun but me!”

Umi stood slowly, her eyes wide and her mouth running completely dry. 

“Whaaat? Why aren’t you having fun?” Kotori questioned, her expression changing to concern. 

“I came with Nozomi and she dumped me to go hang out with her girlfriend. So I’m stuck with her girl’s younger sister,” Nico explained as she pointed over her shoulder with one thumb.

It wasn’t long before she peeked around Nico, discovering very quickly who she was referring to. Kotori parted her lips to speak as realization flooded in, but she appeared just as surprised as Umi was. 

A shocked silence settled between them. Nico looked back and forth between the two of them slowly, her brows pulling low as she noticed something off. She put up both of her hands questioningly. “What… is going on right now?”

“Minami-san… I… I suppose I should have expected you to be here,” Umi managed weakly as her eyes dropped, her cheeks burning in embarrassment–embarrassment over Kotori’s current state of dress and her fumbling words.

Kotori hummed, taking her time with inspecting Umi’s costume. Shock gave way to a playful smile, giggling. “Sonoda-san~! Wow, you look so cool as a pirate!”

Umi stiffened and looked back to Kotori, her hands nervously fidgeting along the collar of her outfit. “Y-you think so?” Where could she even begin concerning Kotori’s costume? How acceptable was it to say that she thought she was absolutely stunning?

“Eeeh?! You two know each other?!” Nico exploded between the two of them, thoroughly shaken at the realization. “N-no way…”

“Y-yes. We’ve met a couple times,” Umi replied, uncertain as of how much she wanted to share with Nico at that moment. 

“Mhm~! There was this one time we were alone in a locker room! It was fun,” Kotori stated so easily, her eyes not leaving Umi and her smile unwavering. 

Umi blanched at that, the corners of her mouth dropping sharply as her eyes snapped to gauge Nico’s reaction. What in the world had gotten into Kotori?! Why would she tell her something like that?! And so casually and out of context, too! Had she no shame?!

It took a moment for the words to process. Each ticking second was like a jab to Umi’s heart. She was so afraid of being judged. Nico’s expression soured. “Uh… okay… so you two know each other. Okay. I guess this makes everything so much easier for me,” was the sarcastic reply as she sank back into her chair.

“That’s right, Nico-chan! We’re all friends here, so we should have such a great, fun time!” Kotori happily chimed in, resting her weight on the back of Nico’s chair and resting her cheek on top of Nico’s head, much to her dismay. 

A sudden realization became apparent to Umi as she watched Kotori. The flushed tone of her cheeks and her strange sense of ease must have naturally accompanied the couple of drinks she just had. If Umi was unsure of how to interact with Kotori before, then a drunk Kotori was that much more challenging.

“Yeah… so I’m just gonna sit around here and wait for you two to slink away to some locker room? I think I’m going to just go get a drink and try to pretend like I’m not the only person in the universe who’s going to die a virgin,” Nico said matter-of-factly as she stood, pushing up Kotori with the notion. “You were supposed to save me, Kotori! But now I’m just gonna go count on alcohol to do it for me.”

Oh, no no no no. Umi didn’t want to be left alone with an inebriated Kotori. She hardly knew what to say to her sober! 

“Nico-chaaaan! Waait,” Kotori called after her in a whiny voice. But Nico was hearing none of it, already committed to going and finding a steady stream of alcohol to alleviate her problems. 

With that, Nico slipped into the flow of people and vanished from sight. Umi proceeded to silently have a mild panic attack. Her jaw tightened as she stood there awkwardly, fiddling with the fabric of her sash. She hadn’t drank nearly enough wine for an encounter like this. There were also cameras recording _everything_. It would be so easy for someone to see her like this—to see her with Kotori. For her _father_ to see. 

Kotori still stared sadly off to where Nico had disappeared, brows furrowed. She finally looked to Umi, making her way around the chair. “You’ll keep me company for tonight, won’t you, Sonoda-san?” she asked with a pleading look. 

“I-if that’s what you wish,” Umi said slowly, appalled at her own acceptance of the situation. She couldn’t just leave Kotori alone after all, right? What kind of a—friend?—person would she be if she had just left Kotori here and shied away like the coward that she was?

At that new development, a smile returned to Kotori’s lips. “Great!” She took hold of the gold trim of her veil, trying to use it to shield her flushed cheeks. If she was trying to hide, it wasn’t terribly successful. It was also unbearably cute. “What do you think~?” Kotori asked gently, looking expectantly at her. 

“U-uh…” The thoughts came flooding back as Umi did a quick scroll of her costume, her cheeks red as she tried to turn her shameful thoughts into legible syllables that wouldn’t scare Kotori away. She hadn’t realized she had been holding her breath until she gasped once for air, trying to find purchase in her words. “It’s… you’re beautiful. Incredible. I-I’ve never seen anything like it,” Umi managed, her gaze dropping as she let out a quick gust of a sigh. 

Kotori smiled warmly behind her hand, releasing the bundled up veil from her grasp slowly. "That's so sweet of you! I've worked a long time on it, so to see it come out so well really makes me happy." For good measure, she spun around, another chorus of delicate clattering accompanying the movement. The veil and the light material of her skirt floated softly around her, highlighting the glittering small stars and the careful embroidery on such thin material. When she came to another still stand, though, her balance failed to agree with her, and she wobbled sideways.

Instinctively, Umi shot forward to help steady her, her hands awkwardly planting on either of Kotori’s shoulders. Her firm grip met little resistance as she shifted Kotori back onto her center. “Um… careful,” she murmured, one corner of her mouth pulling up wryly.

Kotori hummed, taking that opportunity to slide closer to her. “You know, if you wanted to touch, you could have just asked, So-no-da-sa-n.” She accentuated each syllable playfully, hooking her index fingers in Umi’s belt. 

Umi’s mind ran completely blank at that moment. Her hands hovered from where they were seconds ago on Kotori’s shoulders, her body failing to respond as the other’s face closed in on her’s, the sharp scent of alcohol present on her breath. Their hips bumped as a lax tug on her belt pulled her forward.

Umi scraped for some sort of divergence, panicking. “M-Minami-san, you’re saying you made this?” She inquired awkwardly, looking down at the costume with a new perspective as she noted every little fine detail of its craftsmanship. Dedicating her attention to anything but the heavy-lidded, alluring look that Kotori was definitely not being subtle about was the difference between life and death.

It wasn’t a large prayer to hope that Kotori took the topic change, right? She held her breath as Kotori held Umi’s eyes evenly, her smile never faltering. Finally, she giggled. “You’re right, though. I love designing clothes! And teasing you as well.” Kotori let go, moving past Umi. “Happy Halloween~! Let’s go dance!”

A beat passed as Umi stayed frozen in place, looking forward at nothing as she slowly brought her hands down. She swallowed, her face burning all the way to her ears and her heart kicking into a high gear as it attempted to catch up from the last few moments of shocked stillness. She was beyond embarrassed. At least Kotori was just teasing, right? It was a joke. That’s what kept her anchored to the last bit of her sanity as she turned and cleared her throat, her hands tightening into fists at her sides as she took another brief second to decipher what it was Kotori had said. “Huh? Dancing? I’m not… so good at dancing…” she trailed off uncertainly as her legs began to move her forward.

“That’s fine! Nobody has fun because they’re good at dancing. They have fun because they’re dancing with someone!” Kotori looped her arm around Umi’s, having no qualms with walking side-by-side with her and beckoning her on.

There was some truth behind her words. Dancing at an event like this without company would be really lonely. “There… doesn’t happen to be a spell for keeping balance or anything, is there? If so, I think you’re going to need it if you’re going to be jumping around a bunch of people,” Umi said, cringing at her poor attempt at a joke just after it left her mouth.

Despite its lameness, though, Kotori still giggled. Whether it was out of pity or drunkenness was yet to be determined. “If I fall, I have you here, don’t I?”

Umi’s lips pressed to a thin line as she averted her eyes. “Only if you promise to stop teasing me…” 

“Hmm… I’m sorry, I don’t think I can promise that. But I’ll try~!”

* * *

Umi had more than had her fill of the dance floor by the time she finally convinced Kotori to go somewhere that wasn’t populated by rude and sweaty people. However, it was a completely new set of anxieties to be free of the anonymity that a sea of partiers on a poorly-lit dancefloor provided. She was still keeping a careful eye out for any cameras or anything that would otherwise compromise her privacy.

Kotori hardly seemed swayed by such worries, though. Ever since she had met her, she noticed that Kotori was never the one for caring about preserving her image. Rather than follow a preordained mindset, she was much more free of the weight that her name put on her shoulders. While both her and Umi believed what they believed in was right, Kotori was less chained by the consequences of betraying established traditions.

They had climbed a set of stairs in the foyer of the main room and found a large outdoor balcony tucked away parallel to the length of a long, low-light hallway. There were a few people who had wandered here who took to the outside furniture and had quiet, leisurely conversations. 

The view of the pool below and the blaring music occupied their attention for a while. Umi had her arms crossed over the railing, watching Rin and Hanayo talk casually. Umi angled her head towards Kotori, who was now considerably more herself now that she had two hours of sobriety behind her. A question gradually formed on her tongue. Umi decided to go for it. “Minami-san…?”

Kotori leaned the majority of her weight onto the rail, arms folded with her chin resting on top. She was looking past the pool and out towards the vast ocean, a small sliver of the moon still reflecting a soft white light off of the rippling surface. “Hm?”

“How do you do it…?” Umi asked softly after a second, her eyes dropping as she tried to find more of the words the expand on her broad inquiry. “I mean… how are you able to be so… fearless? You're not scared of change or trying something no one else has ever tried before. You don't care what other people think. How do you do it?”

She hummed, not replying right away. Kotori’s eyes slid shut, a small smile shielded by her cloth bracer. “If you really want the truth, that’s not the case at all. I’m actually terrified,” she mumbled with a certain weight behind her words. Umi’s eyes widened at that. “I have to have the courage to do it, and I know that a lot of people are depending on me. It’s a heavy burden but one I wouldn’t wish on anyone else.”

So that's how it was? A dry, one-beat laugh tumbled from her lips. “I see. I know exactly how you feel. Being a Sonoda… it’s inherent that I carry a burden that I don't wish on anyone—not even my worst enemies. I feel like the longer this all goes on, however, the worse I get at hiding the strain of everything on my shoulders. I just want to know how it is you can shine when you're feeling uncertain or challenged. How is it that you can keep smiling?” 

Kotori tilted her head to glance over in Umi’s direction, her beaded headdress jingling slightly in the movement. She contemplated the question before bringing her eyes up to Umi. “I suppose.. I think about what _could_ be, and how much I want that. It gives me hope.” She smiled.

Her answer was simple, yet Umi still couldn't fathom the concept. Her family had wanted werewolves to live in peace with humans for hundreds of years. It was easy for her to imagine her time coming and going without having accomplished that goal. 

“Besides, if I’m with someone like you, it gives me all the more reason to hope for a better future.” 

Umi’s breath caught in her lungs. Her? Giving Kotori hope? How had she managed that? There was no feasible way. But as she met Kotori’s honest, warm gaze, she felt the layers of gratitude wash over her, wordlessly soothing her doubts. She opened her mouth, her heart hammering in her throat. “I… I believe that out of anyone, you could achieve the future that you so desire. I heard that you were a very powerful witch from Yazawa-san. I don't doubt for a moment that you wield all of the necessary tools to reach your goals.”

Kotori pushed herself off of the railing, looking away from Umi. Except for the remaining smile on her lips, her expression was unreadable. “You’re probably right about that, you know.” She turned away from her, her back to the banister. “I just hope that I won’t have to do it alone.” 

Umi thought of her promise to Eli. Of how if she failed to uphold her duties on her own, she had help waiting on the sidelines to support her. But Umi was so stubborn. She didn't want to need the help because of all of the stakes and what ifs if they _all_ happened to fail. But hearing Kotori _hoping_ for support like that while Umi so easily rejected it didn't settle right with her.

“You won't have to do it alone. We can make things right together,” Umi said softly, leaning off of her arms as she angled her body towards Kotori. She was well aware of her hypocrisy. She silently wished for Eli’s forgiveness. “That's what this is all about, isn't it?” she gave a reassuring smile, her hand idly extending forward to push away the veil of Kotori’s costume that was shrouding her face. Her fingers ran along the golden trim, her eyes following the path it traced down to her shoulder. She felt her knuckles ghost over the soft skin of her neck.

Kotori looked to her, eyes wide and searching her. She parted her lips to speak but lost the words, caramel eyes falling to Umi’s hand. She flushed, smiling gingerly, and simply gave her a little nod.

“Isn't it…?” Umi repeated under her breath, completely unaware of having said anything aloud. She followed through with the motion of her hand trailing down the edge of the veil, its trip ending behind Kotori as she let the fabric disappear from her fingertips, her hand coming to rest on the railing behind her. “You know… about the night we met…” she started in a voice just barely above a whisper, her eyes meaninglessly stuck on Kotori’s shoulder. 

Umi could hear the shaky breath that Kotori omitted, her hand clutching over her chest. “Yes?” she affirmed faintly.

“I thought it was so incredibly brave of you to trust me like you did. To put your hand into mine,” Umi continued, bringing a palm up to gaze down upon it. “I thought about what I might say to you days after… I wasn't able to say it all when I saw you again at the cafe. I didn't think you wanted anything to do with me, so I told you what I wanted you to hear most—an apology. My name. But really…” she closed her eyes, a smile curling her lips. “I wanted to thank you.”

“Thank… me?” she asked slowly, turning towards Umi and ducking her head a little as to try and catch her eyes.

Umi’s lashes fluttered back open. Just then, the way Kotori looked up at her with a longing sense of wonder and the gentleness of the pool strobe lights coloring her skin suddenly made it so much harder to form any sort of coherent thought. The dance that her heart was performing in her chest made her hesitate and her blood run hot with an unsourced anticipation. 

“Yes,” she breathed finally. “I wanted to thank you for believing in me. That's all I could ask for from anyone who doesn’t understand, but you're the only one who’s ever actually done it.”

The warm smile that Kotori gave her was almost enough to stop her heart completely. Kotori stepped towards her, reaching to take Umi’s hand in hers. 

Everything seemed to flow so naturally, the way her fingers collapsed around Kotori’s knuckles as she twined their hands together. The way her nerves seemed to completely ease at the weight lifted off her shoulders. The way she found herself eyeing Kotori’s lips as she neared, but not nearly close enough. She had half a mind to gently tug her the rest of the way, surprised at her prospective boldness. She was tempted to take that dangerous step forward and make the space between them nothing but a distant memory. 

Umi shuddered. Who would have known that having such shameful thoughts could feel so incredibly self-indulgent? Alcohol made her dangerously loose-minded. There was no way she’d think about kissing _anyone_ otherwise. After all, why in the world would Kotori want to be kissed by her? She’d never really wanted to do things like that with anyone, but for some reason, she didn’t hate the thought of kissing Kotori. She wouldn’t mind it at all, in fact. Would it be nice? Umi was embarrassing herself with these thoughts. 

Why did she even want to kiss her begin with? Kotori was cute, there was no doubt about that in her mind. She was sweet and caring—a beacon of light that she saw in the distance that kept her going even when a storm loomed ahead. It was easy to be attracted to that light. 

Kotori. A witch. Of course Umi had a knack for making things more complicated than they needed to be. First with Honoka, then Eli, and then Rin. And now she was in a whole other mess of trouble because her newest friend was a witch and she happened to have some sort of silly schoolgirl crush on her. 

When it was spelled out like that, Umi dreaded the thought of this crush becoming something more. She didn’t need the trouble. She needed to get ahold of herself and realize what was more important here. Her feelings were insignificant next to what they had set out to do—what they were capable of. At least she decided to keep telling herself that.

Umi heard the fluttering of wings above their heads before she spotted a reddish owl land on the railing, folding its wings and twisting its head to peer at the both of them with round, golden eyes. It caught Kotori’s attention, and she slipped her hand quickly out of Umi’s and looked towards the bird. Just as swiftly as it had happened, the moment had been dispelled. Perhaps for the best. Umi drew her hands to herself, trying to quietly decipher what had come over her just now. 

“W-what?” Kotori squeaked out at the owl. Umi found herself already lost to what had just happened as she looked between the two. “Ucchi-chan! That’s not…” Kotori paused, looking back and forth at him and Umi animatedly for a moment before sighing. “I don’t think I can really defend myself, can I?” 

“What’s he saying…?” Umi blinked curiously at her, peeking over at the perched owl with a raised brow. 

“Nothing!” Kotori answered a little too quickly, spinning around and purposefully moving to shield Ucchi from Umi’s view. Again, the jingling of her costume’s embellishments caught her attention with such a sudden movement. Kotori laughed awkwardly.

Unconvinced, Umi hummed and shrugged one of her shoulders. “No matter… he can understand me, can’t he?”

Kotori resigned to a sigh, turning to extend a hand and allow the owl to step onto her. “Yes, he can,” she answered, turning to Umi now. 

The owl was quite small compared to the larger ones she tended to see on television or at zoos. Seeing him this close for the first time allowed her to notice the finer details of his red-brown feathered pattern, accentuated by whites that gave him the appearance of a permanently furrowed brow. A tiny green bowtie was clipped to his chest feathers. He couldn’t be more than twenty centimeters tall, and as he twitched his neck about before those large round eyes landed on her, her only thought was that he was a natural match for someone as equally adorable as Kotori. 

“He’s very cute…” Umi said softly, one of her hands lifting to touch before she regained her better self and shook her head. “Would he mind…?” she asked and looked to Kotori for permission.

Ucchi blinked slowly, his eyes remaining fixated on her. Kotori giggled. “He doesn’t mind at all! In fact, he loves being pet!”

As she said that, Umi looked back down to the owl, wondering if it was either a coincidence or typical owl mannerisms that he was now narrowing his eyes at her. Nonetheless, she went through the rest of her previous motion, fingers brushing along the feathers of his horn tufts. He flinched away once, his eyes blinking in rapid succession before he stilled. Umi tilted her head and began to scratch at the top of his head. “You really are a beautiful creature. Thank you for looking after Minami-san,” she smiled as she went to poke his beak playfully.

The owl regarded her for a moment more before flapping his wings and taking off, landing further down on the railing. Kotori smiled. “He says that he hopes you’ll do the same…” 

Her smile lessened as she gauged the seriousness in the owl’s intelligent eyes. “I will,” she said evenly, truly meaning it as she took the promise to heart.

As Umi stood to her full height, she picked up on a sharp, distant wailing of sirens that carried far over the noise of the party. She looked out to the road visible from where she stood, the far-off telltale flashing of red and blue headed in their direction. She looked down quickly to the pool, but no one seemed to notice the approaching trouble. 

With her fists balled at her sides, Umi felt an instinctual warning rush through her. She knew where she had to go and what she had to do. 

And it was what she had feared the most.

* * *

Honoka’s hands rested on either of Hanayo’s shoulders as she lead her forward, smiling widely. Rin had the both of them in tow by holding Hanayo’s hand, taking the lead and wiggling through the crowd towards their destination. 

Hanayo’s unwillingness to sing for them was interpreted as simple stage fright and nothing shook off those fears quite like just going in and doing the thing you're scared to do! But she made sure to reassure Hanayo plenty of times. “Don’t worry! I like to sing sometimes too, so maybe we can do a duet together!” she offered.

Hanayo eventually resigned to her fate, sighing. “Okay… I’ll do my best…”

“We’re almost outside, nya!” Rin announced, getting visibly more excited the closer they got. Honoka did as well, beaming, until something caught her nose. She sniffed a few times, catching the scent of the fluffiest, sweetest bread she had probably ever smelled in her entire life. It was magnetizing how quickly her nose was drawn to it, salivating before she even laid eyes on it. Whatever food managed to captivate her attention easily made her peel off of Hanayo and look around in search of its source, her feet and nose leading her. Rin and Hanayo took off without even noticing her lag behind. 

“It’s gotta be close!” she reassured herself. Suddenly her trail got abruptly caught off, crashing nose-first into someone. 

“Ow, sorry, sorry,” Honoka mumbled, eyes squeezed shut. She adjusted her hat back onto her head, knocked crooked and loose from the collision. 

“Don’t worry about it,” the woman replied. Honoka blinked a few times and looked up, seeing that the person was clad in very nice masculine formal attire. Her attention continued up, meeting calm green eyes. Her conservative smile was just enough to reveal a genuine pair of pointed canines, and Honoka froze. 

Since Honoka’s mind was still lagging behind by that new development, the vampire took a moment to survey Honoka’s costume. “This is quite a well-made costume. It has some inaccuracies, but I’d say that it hardly matters since you look simply adorable in it.”

Both of Honoka’s hands slapped down onto either her own cheeks as she smiled wide and flushed. She called her adorable! Tensions dissolved! “Thank you! I just bought it! I’m not a vampire, but I thought it would be funny cause I’m a werewolf!” She explained animatedly. “Oh! Hey wow, you're super pretty!” Honoka added and giggled, rubbing her sore nose as she straightened up and folded an arm behind her back. “Are you wearing a fancy waiter costume? I think it's so funny that a lot of the vampires here coordinated and did that! It reminds me of a work uniform!”

She simply smiled a response, even sparing her a soft laugh. “No, it isn’t a costume,” she said. “What is your name?” 

“Kousaka Honoka! It’s nice to meet ya!” She grinned and bowed politely. “And yours?”

“Kousaka Honoka-san. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she answered with her own conservative bow and a captivating smirk. “I’m Kira Tsubasa.”

“So formal and cool! Are you a thousand years old or something?” Honoka practically vibrated in excitement as she folded her fingers together in front of her and held them close to her collarbone.

Tsubasa smirked wider in amusement. “No, not exactly. But I have been serving the Nishikino family for a long time.”

“Serving the Nishikino family…” Honoka repeated, her brows furrowing as she tried to picture what it was like to serve a family. “How you do that, exactly?”

“It manifests itself in many different ways. I would love to tell you all about it over a drink, if that is agreeable?” Tsubasa offered.

It took a moment as Honoka’s thoughts ran circles around her. She shook her head, pulling her mind back into the right as she smiled wide. New friends were awesome! “Sounds like a great idea! You know, I don't know many vampires! I have so many questions!”

“I will admit that I do not have many werewolf acquaintances, either,” Tsubasa confessed, offering Honoka another side smile before they both turned and headed deeper into the party.

* * *

“Nozomi…”

A long stretch of time had an array of patrons in cute Halloween-themed bathing suits. The both of them lounged on one of the poolside love chairs to watch. Nozomi watched as Hanayo sung the last note of passed before Eli mumbled her name, and she may have gone on thinking that she had probably fallen asleep against her shoulder if not for it. The pool was still so busy at this time of night, the karaoke crowd erupting in cheers as Hanayo finished. She was a talented girl with a sweet voice. 

Nozomi could see Rin throwing her arms around Hanayo, nearly knocking the girl off balance. Hanayo didn’t seem to mind too much, giggling all the while. 

“So you _are_ still with us, Elicchi.” Nozomi smiled to her playfully, and Eli pivoted her head to look up at her. She could smell the stale scent of alcohol on Eli’s breath. 

The slight pouty face and the drunken flush of her cheeks made Eli look exceptionally precious. “I’m not sleeping, and I haven’t been either,” she replied with a mellow yet defensive tone. “I was just taking the time to enjoy everything…”

“Yes… I get what you mean. It’s moments like this that I wish could last forever. That’d be nice, wouldn’t it?” she replied wistfully. She could only visit past precious memories so many times before they felt more and more like a distant dream.

Eli hummed, and the weight disappeared off of her shoulder as she sat up. “It would,” she replied with a hint of strain in her voice. 

Nozomi glanced at Eli with a look of concern, biting back a whine as her weight disappeared from her shoulder. She leaned to press the majority of her side into Eli the best she could to make up for the lost contact. “What’s on your mind?” she inquired gently.

Eli’s eyes remained downcast, unresponsive for a moment. She shook her head. “A lot of things. But I don’t want to talk about them… if I don’t have to.” A smile returned to Eli’s face as she looked down towards Nozomi. “I hope that’s okay.”

It couldn't be helped, then. She wouldn't pry. Nozomi gave a small nod. “It’s alright with me if you're alright now. If there's anything I can do to put you at ease, please let me know.”

Eli paused, contemplative. “Maybe… maybe you can tell me. Does... anything happen tonight? Anything that’s out of the ordinary?” 

Nozomi straightened up a bit, going to absently run her fingers idly through her bangs. So that’s what was bothering her. It should have been a given. There had been so much tension on the news and in the streets lately. She simply smiled in response, closing her eyes as she projected her focus into the future.

She saw them sitting here. The commotion of the party droned on just as it always had been, nothing seemingly out of place. She searched farther ahead, her attention brought to the sudden trembling of her own hands in the vision. Her heart was crashing against her ribcage. Nozomi swallowed hard, tensing up as she failed to comprehend what exactly had happened, but there were no immediate indicators of her unease in the vision she saw. She realized that the farther she pushed into the future, the more blurry it became—clouded with thick, blotchy shadows and sounds. But this wasn’t just her unable to see a future. She wasn’t able to see anything at all.

She was blindsided at the lack of substance she was met with. She pressed far into the future—farther than she had dared to go in a long time—and was met with increasingly more decrepit movements from faceless figures and unrecognizable noises that was nothing like anything in this world that she knew. She searched frantically all the way through the future until she saw absolutely nothing. 

Nozomi opened her eyes, painfully aware of Eli’s worried gaze peering into her. She felt her blood run cold as heavy dread filled her, crushing her lungs and constricting her heart with a wild sense of loss. She hadn’t seen anything like that in a very long time. She looked down to her trembling hands and bit the bottom of her lip.

“Hey… are you alright?” Eli asked, her voice laced with concern.

She fumbled for a response, her words lost in her throat.

Eli shifted next to her, angling herself more towards her. “Nozomi? What’s wrong?” Her hand cupped Nozomi’s cheek, trying to get her attention. 

It took a moment for her eyes to focus. She fought desperately to push away the lingering shadows from her mind, her own demons plaguing her thoughts with a drowning landslide of unreasonable fears. Her chest felt unbelievably tight, every breath of air she took feeling more and more like a hydraulic press clamping down on her chest. This couldn’t be happening now. She needed to take her medication. “I-I’m sorry, I need t-to go… find a ba-bathroom...”

“A bathroom?” Eli repeated, looking around and about. “O-okay… I’ll get you there quickly…”

Nozomi could only nod meekly in response. 

Eli took her hand and rose from the seat with her. She led the both of them back indoors, weaving through the people crowding the walkways with noticeably less grace than before. 

They broke off into a hallway, lazy partygoers lining the walls as they were engaged in idle conversation and a few groups erupted in boisterous laughter. Eli and Nozomi passed many of them urgently, not seeming to particularly capture anyone’s attention. 

“I think there’s a bathroom up here,” Eli said over her shoulder as she focused on a point down at the end of the hall.

Nozomi nodded and reluctantly released Eli’s hand. It seemed as if Eli was about so say something more, but she resigned and tried on a smile. “You might think you’re in the wrong place, but you’re not. The bathrooms are just… really big,” she forewarned lightheartedly. Even in this moment where she didn’t yet understand all that was bothering her, Eli still tried to find a way to be of some help by lightening the mood. 

Nozomi gave an appreciative smile and a faint giggle. “I’ll keep that in mind, Elicchi. I’ll only be a minute.”

The second she turned away, her smile faded instantly as one of her trembling hands pressed into her tight chest. She focused on maintaining drawing breath from her unresponsive lungs, eyes drawn down as she pushed open the heavy door to the washroom. When she brought her gaze up to gauge her surroundings, she was immediately upon another woman as the two of them collided on accident. Nozomi’s bag slipped off of her shoulder and plummeted down onto the marble floor, the clatter of her cell phone, makeup, and her pill bottle echoing off the walls.

“My apologies,” the woman said quickly, ducking down to help her collect her things. “I was being so careless just now…” 

Nozomi regained herself and willed her heart to stop beating so frantically, the corners of her vision clouded with the fresh panic of the surprise. “Ah, no, it wasn’t your fault. I wasn’t looking,” she managed after a lagging moment as she ducked over and picked up the last of her stuff and stood at the same time as the other woman. Nozomi looked to her for the first time as she received her other things. The woman had snowy hair and a very mellow, cool demeanor. She adorned a simple doctor’s coat as a costume.

She met the woman’s gold eyes, realizing that her energy was a fast, winding circuit that practically hummed about her. Nozomi knew that her energy, similar to Eli’s, was also that of a werewolf’s. 

Nozomi shook her head, remembering her manners as she thanked the woman for her help and bowed her head politely to excuse herself, wishing her the best night as she went and placed her bag onto the surface next to one of the three sinks.

The bathroom door shut behind her as the woman left. 

Quickly, Nozomi shuffled back through her bag for her things. She wasn’t about to let her ailment get ahold of her better self tonight. She just had to push away the doubts and the uncertainty for the belief that everything was going to be alright. While she couldn’t see a future now, at least she was certain there still was one. Her turquoise eyes stared hard into the mirror as she fought to convince herself. 

The pounding of her heart and the shaking of her hands were unreasonable. It wasn’t her that was afraid. It was her body. She screwed her eyes shut. This wasn’t her. It was her mind playing tricks on her. She wouldn’t let these powers consume her. 

A group of girls came in through the bathroom door and Nozomi scrambled to shove her things into her bag. Her behavior earned her a few lingering looks and their conversation stopped. She was unable to ignore them. Her wide eyes followed the increasingly concerned group through the mirror until they disappeared behind the wall that separated the sinks from the bathroom stalls. 

She continued her search, sifting through her belongings. It didn’t immediately register with her that she had not found the bottle by the time she reached the bottom of the bag. She paused, a new dread filling her chest laced with panic. Her eyes darted up into the mirror for the girls that had just entered before she looked back down frantically. Again, she searched through the container, trembling hands desperately shoving things out of the way. It was impossible that she had forgotten it. She carried it with her at all times for situations like this. 

After another fruitless search, she wasted no time with dumping the bag’s contents into the sink, scanning for her pills. Her phone was there, her blush, eyeliner, wallet, tampons, pens, house keys, compact… 

But no pills.

She had to brace herself on the sink to keep her legs from giving out from under her. Again and again she scanned the contents and clattered through them, reality setting in that they were no longer in her possession. She let out a sharp breath, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to not let her clouding, twisting visions get the best of her. 

It was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we go... we pick up here. 
> 
> it's pretty quiet down there in the comments, so how about dropping a few quick words to tell us how we're doing? :0! we'll see about when the next one comes out. so far, it's just when this fic leaves the front page of the love live page. but who knows....til next time!


	15. Dance Until You Die (Part 3)

Floating among the games, displays of magic, and mingling factions of different wereanimals, Maki was content in a vibrant playground of her own creation. Everywhere she went she was greeted guests who were quick to praise her costume or her home. She had no shortage of being offered drinks and seats, either, for it was always a scramble to receive her attention. Even a few minutes of exchange gave someone enough to boast and brag to their friends that their esteemed hostess spared a moment for them.

A waiter with a red platter lined with glasses passed by her, and she smoothly scooped one of the drinks off of the surface. The blood wine was quite popular among her vampiric guests, and for good reason too. It was simply some of the finest tasting that they could get in all of Japan, and with one of the highest blood content per volume there was to offer.

Maki sauntered through the foyer, dropped in to check on the kitchen, and eventually found herself in the main bar lounge. She slid her now empty glass onto the bar counter, spotting a lone girl with black twin tails who had her face planted into the granite countertop. She had a costume made of what looked like cheap pleather and lace with too many craft store dollar bin studs and accessories. 

It was a little odd to see someone passed out on a barstool here, like it was midnight at some run-down pub. It was loud and fast-paced with grand opportunities for fun and excitement at every turn—a ton of things to do. Whoever it was, she choose one hell of a party to wallow in isolation as a drunken mess.

The more she thought about it, the more it started to irk her. Was that girl somehow _not_ having the time of her life at _her_ party? Did Maki’s party _bore_ her? The more she watched her, the longer her presence started to offend her. 

After a moment, Maki realized that the girl wasn’t actually passed out. She heard her mumbling into the counter.

_“Zero… zero… why does it always fall back to zero? What a fucking mess...”_

Without any context, it was a weird thing to mumble to oneself. That or it simply could have been drunken rambling. 

An annoyed groan sounded as the girl sat up, a hand coming to her neck as she rolled her shoulders and stretched out a bit, her black big tails swaying with her gestures. Then her shoulders slumped and she took her empty mug in front of her, pushing it back and forth on the counter, the bottom of the mug rattling in such a way that caused Maki’s eyes to flinch.

“Bartender… can someone in the whole damn world spare a moment for me and get me something else to drink?! I’d give you one star if I could rate this place, I swear I’d fucking do it, don’t you test me!” She rose her voice suddenly, the ugly rolls of her tongue, her harsh inflections, and her slurred swearing quite off-putting.

Maki could tell that the man behind the counter was heavily resisting the urge to roll his eyes. “Of course. _Right away_ ,” the vampire replied before rotating slowly and setting off, probably to fetch something potent enough to put her out for the night.

Not a moment after, as the girl’s crimson eyes swam around the room, they met her own amethysts. Maki blinked slowly, waiting for some sort of recognition or praise or embarrassment or _anything._

None of the above. The girl slowly turned back towards the counter and stuck a pinky into her ear.

Maki’s eyes narrowed, scoffing under her breath. Who did she think she was, exactly, talking to her staff like that and even blowing her off? She approached her, ready to give her a piece of her mind.

“Hey.” Maki called, standing behind her and putting a hand on the back of an occupied nearby bar chair. “What’s your problem, huh?”

The girl pushed out and angled her body towards her, her hand dropping into her lap. From how she smelled, alcohol and cheap perfume aside, Maki could tell that she was human. She did a quick scroll of her costume, which was as trashy as she thought it was initially. Was she supposed to be some sort of punk rocker? “I don’t got a problem, it’s everyone else who’s got a problem,” she replied, her brows sitting low and her lips tilted into a childish pout.

“Really?” Maki asked without enthusiasm, head tilting a little. 

“Yeah,” the girl scoffed, eyeing her. “What do you want, anyway? Don’t you… have a pool of money to swim in or something?”

Now fully aware of the fact that this girl _did_ in fact know who she was, Maki decided to disregard that last part, looking past her to watch the tender place a drink in front of her with a dull clank. “What I want,” she started as she watched her turn around and pull the drink—which Maki thought may have been too tall for someone of her size, but she seemed to not care in the slightest—towards her. “Is for you to not drag down my party. There are plenty of other things that could fuck up a perfectly good night right now, and I don’t need you contributing to that. Straighten up or something before you start to have a problem with someone who isn’t having that shit tonight.”

“You’re telling me, the queen of fucked up nights, not to fuck up your night? Sorry, we’re already at zero days without incident,” she said into her drink bitterly. “Only good thing about this night is that I’m halfway to blacking out and it’s almost time for me to go start grinding on some poor random girl on the dance floor until she feels guilty ‘cause I’m such a mess and then she pities me enough to take me upstairs.”

Maki stared at her for a long moment, her expression blank. “So… you plan on imposing whatever self-loathing affliction you possess on some unsuspecting bystander. Tragic.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Strict schedule and all…” she trailed off, tilting her cup up as she started on her next drink. She placed the mug down with a ragged sigh. “Hey, do you like me or something? You got other people to go and talk to, right?”

It was a legitimate question. She could have been gone a long time ago, yet she stood by some obligation to see that this girl was enjoying herself. Or something. 

Despite the attitude, the crudeness, and the underwhelming costume, she _was_ pretty cute. Maki let out a one beat laugh. “No, I don’t have anyone to talk to. I don’t _need_ to do anything.” No human or government could make her do anything, either, and she was ready to stand by that and prove it. 

A long moment passed as the girl turned and stared her down, her mouth parting to say something several times before it clamped shut unceremoniously each time. She shook her head slightly and shrugged her shoulders. “... me.”

Maki paused, a brow shooting up. “...What?”

“I think you need to do me.” 

Crass and tactless, but it was what it was. And quite frankly, under these specific circumstances—intoxicated, slightly bored, and confronted with a bold girl—Maki found herself somewhat enticed by the ludicrous suggestion. 

What sort of party would it be if the hostess herself didn’t get laid at least once anyway? In years past, she had developed something of a tradition, though it seemed like this time around, she was either acquiring new tastes or lowering her standards. She decided that it wasn’t the latter. Maki kept telling herself that she _wasn’t_ at all bad to look at, keeping her “standards” intact.

“What’s your name?” Maki asked, leaning onto the counter on one elbow and watching her expectantly.

The girl stiffened, eyes widening as she was scrutinized. “Holy shit, you didn’t say no,” she mumbled before speaking up. “Yazawa Nico.”

Maki responded flatly. “Why? Did you want me to say no?” 

“I mean, I just made a total idiot of myself and I’m obviously a desperate mess so you must think I’m cute or something. Just kinda surprised me and all.” Nico said, turning back to attack her drink before she stood up abruptly after slamming it down on the counter, her boots skidding on the bottom bar of her stool and causing her to tumble out of the seat, but she thankfully caught herself on the counter all wobbly and cursed under her breath. She probably shouldn’t have downed that whole thing just then, since that was a _lot._ It seemed like her goal of getting blacked out wasn’t far from a reality now. “A… _tatatata_ … god, I’ve already embarrassed myself enough, why gravity?” 

“I haven’t confirmed or denied the offer, mind you,” Maki pointed out, remaining where she was and watching Nico pat herself off to try and look more presentable. “It _would_ leave me with a bad reputation if I had guests leave without saying they’ve had the time of their life, though.”

“I guess it would. But really, are you going to make out with me or not?” Nico asked with a straight face, eyeing her expectantly.

Maki snorted. “Eloquent.” She meet Nico’s eyes smoothly, running her tongue across her pointed canines behind her lips. “I do occasionally get a little careless from time to time,” she warned. “So I can’t guarantee that you’ll stay human by the time the night’s out.” 

Nico didn’t bat an eye. “Do you think I’m dumb? I might be human, but I’m also a witch. I thought this through for longer than a second.”

A witch, then? If she had some sort of anti-vampirism spell, Maki was grateful that at the very least she wasn’t using a garlic charm. While not unbearably _potent_ like some liked to believe, garlic was still extremely annoying to be around. “Then that makes things easier.” 

“Good, because I’m tired of talking,” Nico said, stepping close and grabbing a handful of the fur on the collar of her coat boldly and pulling down on it, her focus on her lips.

Maki grinned and let her gaze lazily slide down to Nico’s lips as well. It was a lot easier to allow herself to succumb to Nico’s contagious reckless abandon than overthink it. And since they would surely be going their separate ways after that night, there were no strings attached. 

Maki’s eyes dropped to Nico’s neck, and knowing that she was currently under a protective enchantment made for an enticing opportunity. She could have the most expensive wine in the world, but nothing _really_ came close to the real thing. 

Maki was pleasantly surprised that this night had managed to get just a little more interesting.

* * *

The reassuring smile that she gave Nozomi faded when she turned away and set off towards the bathroom. Eli put her back against the wall, thinking through what had just transpired. Inherently she blamed herself for what had happened to Nozomi. Did she put unnecessary stress on her for asking that? Eli mentally scolded herself for it, wishing that her curiosity hadn’t gotten the best of her. 

Thoughts and possibilities buzzed through her mind as she waited. A flash of white at the corner of her eye drew her attention, headed out of the bathroom. 

Though she couldn’t see her in her entirety, Eli was sure that she knew that snowy-haired woman from _somewhere._ It was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint it. Little of her actual mind power remained past worrying about Nozomi. And the alcohol.

Eli pointedly watched her leave, the eyes of the other woman never once looking to her as she passed by. She disappeared from view, and so Eli’s attention shifted elsewhere, though it always returned to Nozomi. She was considering going to check on her, but she willed herself to remain patient. 

The minutes felt painstakingly long, and her guilty conscience gave her little reprieve. Seeing Nozomi finally come out of the bathroom should have been relieving, but when she staggered over to her in the same condition that she was before, Eli’s heart dropped. In fact, she looked even _more_ worse for wear. Nozomi hugged herself tight, her eyes darting to every hint of movement near her as she meekly neared. 

“Nozomi?” Eli pressed, the edge of concern present in her voice. “What happened?” The words were already out when she moved forward, moving to her girlfriend’s side to offer her some sort of leverage or relief. 

Nozomi had hardly registered her question, let alone her presence. Eli held back any more words as she watched in dismay as Nozomi flinched back a micro step when she neared. 

“It’s nothing. I-I just don't feel so well. I’m sorry,” she responded half-heartedly. 

“But… you’re shaking, and you’re pale,” she noted quietly, her brows knitting into a soft furrow as she placed her hands on either of Nozomi’s shoulders comfortingly. “I don’t think it’s nothing. We should get you to a hospital…” 

“No, I can't go there,” came the forceful yet strained reply. “I just need to go home. I have back-up medication there…”

“Home?” Eli repeated incredulously. “But a doctor would know how to help you if you aren’t feeling well!”

“Eli, please…” she whispered under her breath. 

Eli’s next words halted in her throat. Her instincts pointed adamantly towards some sort of professional medical attention, but Nozomi already had some preordained thought against it. She was at a loss of what to do, knowing that her conscience told her to do one thing yet struggled with going through with Nozomi’s decision. “I… I don’t understand.”

“I don’t like hospitals. I really just don’t like going to hospitals,” Nozomi murmured, a weak hand grabbing onto the Eli’s belt.

Eli quieted, knowing that at that point that she could not bring herself to persuade Nozomi any longer. Her own experiences with hospitals were also awful, to say the least. The thought alone of being surrounded by those indiscernible voices and white walls made her feel powerless and uneasy. She could have been prepared to endure it. If it meant that she could see Nozomi well, that was something that she would be able to pull through. 

“We don’t have to go… I didn’t mean to…” Eli trailed off as Nozomi brought herself closer. The ever-looming smell of alcohol couldn’t completely drown out a familiar scent. Eli leaned forward, honing in on the source that faintly clinged on Nozomi’s body. It was a striking one of a few that could shake her a little bit out of her haze. 

Tsuruya Rei’s pack.

What had happened in the short time she had been apart from her?

“Nozomi, did you run into anyone in there?” she asked, though Nozomi wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Nozomi?” 

“Not in the bathroom,” she replied so softly that she almost didn’t even speak at all. It seemed like Nozomi’s mind had already been set on something else, less than enthusiastic about answering her questions.

Maybe it would have to wait. She wasn’t feeling well before that happened anyway, right? It could have easily have been a coincidence. 

“We... have to get you home,” Eli started slowly. 

The relief that she saw wash over Nozomi was enough to solidify any doubts against her decision that she had. “I’m sorry,” Nozomi whispered weakly. “I know I’m being selfish and making things difficult for you.”

“I don’t see it that way. You need me right now, and that’s all there is to it.” Eli started towards the main foyer with her, watching Nozomi closely. She looked like she was managing the bare minimum in keeping it together, surfacing her phone with shaky hands to start typing out a message. 

“I’m telling Nicocchi… that we’re leaving,” Nozomi explained between a pause for breath. 

She nodded, pulling her phone out to do the same. She decided to call instead, though, waiting for Umi to respond. The line rang and rang and went to voicemail each time. Strange. Umi _always_ answered her phone. She went down the list, wishing to notify _someone_ that she was leaving, but when she called Honoka and then Rin, she was still left with unresponsive lines. She tried Umi a few more times, but there was still nothing. 

Eli felt Nozomi’s weight press onto her, and she had to quickly loop her arm around her to keep her from tumbling forward. “Nozomi?” she asked worriedly. 

“Lightheaded,” Nozomi uttered weakly, her brow furrowed and her eyes screwed shut.

“I can carry you,” Eli offered without hesitation. Nozomi’s brows rose, and she looked like she may have wanted to say something, but Eli was quick. She helped Nozomi’s arms around her shoulders, bending to hoist her up in a piggyback ride. Eli didn’t hear any protest from her as Nozomi weakly draped her arms around her and rested her head against the back of hers. 

Eli overestimated her ability to stand upright without swaying. Her head spinned when she returned to her full height, temporarily dazed. She balanced herself, really wishing she didn’t have those last few shots. They were _not_ settling in kindly with her. 

Eli returned her attention to her phone, pulling up her history. “I’ll call a ride,” she said, though she wondered if Nozomi could afford to wait around that long. She shifted to get a better grip on her legs when she noticed just how much she was trembling. When Nozomi didn’t respond, Eli decided to take it onto herself to make a decision that she thought was the most sound.

A taxi would take a while to drive up here, and she wasn’t certain about how long Nozomi would be able to last for in this condition. She didn’t want to find out what would happen if she stalled a moment longer. She looked at the time on her phone, swearing under her breath. They wouldn’t catch the last train at this rate either. 

Eli squeezed her eyes shut, knowing what she _could_ do. She would probably be able to outrun a cab and even a train, even if she were holding Nozomi. 

No. Eli dismissed the thought right away. She didn’t feel confident or comfortable enough to be alright with it. There _had_ to be something else she could do. Without the time to find Umi, though, her options were extremely limited. Eli considered just running there on foot, which seemed like the best idea outright. Her stamina wasn’t as high as that of her other form, and she wasn’t as fast, but it could be done. 

But she couldn’t outrun a car in her current form, even if she was in a full blown sprint the entire time. She could have well waited for a taxi instead of exerting herself like that. She wasn’t the most coordinated with how much alcohol was in her system either, and she could end up falling and hurting Nozomi. Eli knew she could sober up fast if she went through that transformation.

The more she tried to find other plausible ways, the better the crazier idea started to sound. 

Eli bit down on her lip, reaching the corner of the Nishikino estate that connected with the road. As best as she could, she settled Nozomi gently on the grass, cupping her cheeks. She was still conscious and able to sit upright on her own, at the very least. “Nozomi?” Eli asked, her breath shaky. _Am I really going to do this?_ Can _I do this? I don’t know, I don’t know…_

A tender hand covered one of hers before her turquoise eyes angled up. “Elicchi?” she murmured, going to look around sluggishly at their surroundings before tightening her hold on her hand and looking back to her with a crease of worry at her brow. 

“Do you trust me?” she asked, her heart racing at what she was committing herself to doing. She didn’t even trust _herself,_ so what would make her think Nozomi would? And would Nozomi be scared of her? Would she despise her when she saw her for what she really was?

It was like Nozomi’s response wanted to be immediate, but the way she got choked up as she attempted to speak broke Eli’s heart in a hundred places. Nozomi’s gaze fell down and she gave simple nod, the back of her other hand not at her cheek lifting and pressing hard into her lips. She swallowed with some difficulty and squeezed her hand even tighter as to show another gesture of affirmation. Her head sagged out of Eli’s grasp and both of her palms planted on either side of her in the dirt as she started humming a strange pitch that dropped out and came back in as she fed her wavering breaths into the note.

Eli couldn’t comprehend what was happening, but whatever this was, it was scaring the hell out of her. She needed to get Nozomi home _now._ Hastily she emptied her costume pockets of her things to put them in Nozomi’s purse, standing back and looking up to the moon. It was hardly visible with only a sliver remaining. If it were any larger, she didn’t think she would even try; it would have been a near guarantee that she failed completely. 

Regardless, she had never changed outside of Umi’s supervision, so what she was about to do terrified her more than anything. 

Banishing any doubts in her mind, she started mentally reciting the mantra that Umi taught her. _I am in control, I am safe. I am in control, I am safe. I can do this._

Her already quick heart rate kicked into overdrive, her entire body pulsing as she collapsed to her knees. She grit her teeth, bearing the onslaught of searing heat and pain as her form began to morph. 

_I am in control,_ she repeated mentally. It could have been so easy to disregard the words and succumb to the maddening craze of raw, instinctual reactions. But she remembered everything that Umi taught her, and how she was so knowledgeable and confident. That pillar of strength and security in her life was invaluable. _I am safe._

Her fingernails dug into the damp earth beneath her, extending into curved points and piercing the ground. _I am in control._

Eli choked on cries as her joints and bones cracked and expanded. Her broadening chest was too large to be contained in her costume, squeezing the air from her and constricting her neck. She made quick work of clawing it off, shredding it from her form. The relief that she felt regaining the ability to breathe was fleeting, still forced through the worst of the pain. The rest of the costume, pleather and all, ripped under the strain until she was finally free from all of it.

She remained motionless, repeating those words infinitely in her mind as the torture began to ebb and fade. The overpowering sensation of the ever-gnawing hunger ignited inside her and took over, insatiable and commanding. She pressed her forehead hard into the ground, eyes screwed shut as she heaved in and out in large, powerful gusts. Her fear and lack of confidence made her hold the reigns so loosely that the wolf within her thrashed and fought with more horrible vigor than usual. Even though she repeated the words indefinitely, they started to become meaningless as they were drowned out by those stronger, primal urges. 

It yanked and shoved at her sanity, each beat of her heart feeling as if it were spreading madness into her very being. She snarled and whipped her maw back and forth, shredding earth under her claws as she tried to root herself. She fought with all of her might, feeling like she was only holding onto thin strands of an entire rope in the tug for control over her own body.

And they were quickly slipping out of her grasp.

_I am in control…_

She couldn’t be sure who she was trying to convince anymore. She was fighting a losing battle, now. What would Umi say if she could see her now?

There were so little strands left that she could count them, _feel_ them as the beast plucked them out of her grasp one by one.

Her eyes settled on the nearest living being to her, barking and flinging spittle everywhere. Was there still an inkling of a chance? 

Another yank, then there were two strands of her humanity left. 

Her limbs were screaming to move forward even though she held back with all of her might. The hunger was overwhelming. They prey in front of her was easy, sitting there and practically _begging_ to be eaten. 

A snap.

And she was left with one.

Eli had last lost control almost a year and a half ago. 

She could still feel the restraints and manacles biting into her fur and flesh as she roared and snarled, captured and treated like a wild animal. Few differences existed at the time. It essentially was what she had become. 

She remembered the electric shots that surged through her body, throwing her snarling maw in the air to cry out in agony. She remembered how the pain only reinvigorated her to renew her efforts, pulling and thrashing at the restraints with such rigor that they started giving in to her brute strength. 

It was to be the last time that they tried to help her gain control of it. If they couldn’t succeed, then it was too late for her. It would be too dangerous to let her live. 

Suddenly, she felt a pair of hands on her cheeks. 

Umi’s hands, which remained steady despite her erratic movements. Eli could almost immediately feel the warmth and comfort that came from her. _Something_ clicked within her the moment she came into contact with her. It felt as if Umi’s own wolf spirit connected with hers, showing her that this was not the way. 

It didn’t have to be like this. She didn’t have to wrestle with the indomitable beast within her. It was possible for them to coexist as one. It would be exceedingly difficult, but still possible all the same. 

It was as if Umi was bestowing wisdom and guidance to an angry, lost soul. Having that shoulder to lean on after fighting it alone for so long was enough to bring tears to her eyes. Finally she could have a solution. Maybe finally she could fully live her life again. She would have to work harder than she ever had, but it was possible. She already had an inspiring model right before her. 

Every moment of her transformation, Umi would hold her like that, uttering to her reassuring words that kept her grounded. It had taken so much time, but it was finally starting to work. 

Her eyes started to focus, her heaving breaths starting to slow. When Eli laid eyes on who was in front of her, she was shocked to see that it actually hadn’t been Umi at all. 

Wide turquoise eyes the side of dinner plates met her own. Nozomi sat very still, cupping either side of her massive head, her own breathing ragged. Eli immediately looked for any evidence of fear on Nozomi’s features, none being obvious right away. She didn’t know how to react, unsure of whether or not she should be shocked or overjoyed. Regardless, Eli was herself, and she had won out in the end after all. The roar within her was beginning to grow complacent, tucked away within the darkest recesses of her soul, quieting and disappearing. At least, for now. 

But that was enough. The high-pitched whine that came from her was that of pure joy, tears stinging at her eyes.

Too soon, Nozomi looked down to her lap and her hands fell, her lips moving just barely. The syllables she spoke sounded like pure gibberish. Then, Nozomi’s eyes rolled all the way to white as her lids became heavy, the mumbling stopping as she slowly fell to one side. Eli was upon her in a second as she put out a large off-white furred arm to catch her before she hit the ground. 

Eli let out a powerful gust out of her nose in place of calling her name, her ears flattening. She was mortified that it may have been too late for Nozomi, finally succumbing to unconsciousness that would make her unresponsive. A moment later, though, she heard the babbling continue, muffled into her fur. There still had to be time. 

She scooped her up with one arm, slipping her purse in between her teeth and clamping her jaws shut. Nozomi weakly held onto her, her fingers curling into her fur.

Nozomi’s mumbling came through with brief, vague, almost feverishly spouted phrases that Eli couldn’t decipher a meaning from. She heard “the shrine” and “protect her” and “watch from behind” (or something about seeing guilt, Eli couldn't tell without proper context because the pronunciation was the same) and “don’t leave me”. Unable to respond and helpless to do much else, Eli hugged her closely to her chest, using her powerful legs to launch herself down the winding road. 

As she sprinted away, she heard sharpshooting calls of sirens closing in on the estate behind her. She paused for a heartbeat to rotate her head and ears in that direction, catching the droning of several approaching vehicles. Were police officers coming to stop the party after all?

She couldn’t afford to go back right now, her mind wandering to her sisters. _Umi, Honoka, Rin. Please stay safe,_ she wished to herself. That silent hope was all she could spare before turning and darting down the road, her claws scraping and clattering against pavement with every footfall.


	16. Dance Until You Die (Part 4)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, this chapter should really be split in half, but a lot of important things happen that brings us up to the end of part 2! WHEW... remember when me and tino said we'd be able to have this finished by october OTL? there are just not enough hours in the day to make that possible... anyways, we're 30k words into part 3, so make sure to stay tuned and to throw a comment if you can!! we're both rather slow writers, in all honesty, but a lot of care is being put into every moment and scene. we really love this fic so much and want to know what ya'll think. i know i get really excited about readying the next chapter if i see people are enjoying the fic so far. just a couple words is more than enough for us! 
> 
> thank you for following this and we'll see you in the next part.

The excitement of Hanayo at the karaoke mic had died down by the time Rin and Hanayo managed to wriggle their way through the crowd surrounding the booth. The fit of giggles that befell Rin worsened when Hanayo joined her in laughter as the both of them plopped down and stuck their feet into the pool, their shoes discarded to either side of them and their faces flush from both the alcohol and the heat from the proximity of so many people. Rin had to hold her breath to try and calm down, she felt like she was close to passing out from laughing so much.

An array of different lights pool lights flashed and changed into different colors, programmed to match the karaoke by the poolside. Rin kicked out playfully with a grin and a content sigh as she finally got ahold of herself. She made small splashes on the surface that were really nothing compared to the chaos of the water from numerous other people swimming and diving into the pool. 

Amidst all of the playful chaos, Hanayo began to softly hum one of the melodies that she had sung not but moments ago. There was something about that hushed notion that made everything else around them just a little quieter, captivating Rin’s attention. Honestly, Rin didn’t think that she had even taken her eyes off of Hanayo since they had parted from her sisters. 

She was used to hearing Hanayo hum and sing along to music when they lounged around sometimes doing nothing and Hanayo was doing homework. She never sang around anyone else and Rin knew that she was charged with the task of getting her beautiful voice heard. That’s what had possessed her in that moment when she saw the karaoke, at least. Hanayo seemed like she was having fun after the first initial plague of stage fright and Rin couldn’t be more glad that she had forced her to pick up the mic.

It was an amazing feeling, finally being able to have fun and hang out with Hanayo like she had always wanted to. It just felt so natural, the way they laughed together and fell in step together. She wondered if Hanayo felt the same. She hardly knew Rin the person, after all.

“Rin-chan?” Hanayo finally spoke up, her eyes on her lap and fiddling with the hem of her dress.

She perked up, one side of her mouth pulling up in a smirk as she leaned back and forth onto her palms planted on either side of her. “Yeah, Hanayo-chan?”

Hanayo seemed apprehensive about something for a moment, but she shook her head and smiled. “Thank you for inviting me. This has been a lot of fun! I’ve never experienced anything quite like it.”

Rin smiled brightly as she went to nudge her shoulder gently into Hanayo’s arm, leaning into the gesture and not quite remembering that she maybe shouldn’t stay so close. She was so used to rubbing up on her, after all. “Of course! I’m glad you were able to come. I’ve only been here once and it was fun then too but I like being with you, so that makes this all the more special!”

Hanayo smiled back at her, nodding. “Yeah! This all does feel very special. It’s so strange because it feels like I’ve known you for such a long time.”

Rin straightened up immediately at that, the alcohol in her system making her forget how to be subtle in any form of the word as one of her hands shot nervously up to rub her neck and she gave an awkward laugh. “Ha! W-what makes you say that, nya~?!”

Hanayo blinked, her gaze dropping to the water. She began pressing her index fingers together in her lap. “U-um… I think it’s kind of hard to say…”

“I mean, we’ve only… known each other for a little so it’s kinda funny that you feel that way! I think that’s pretty easy to explain, don’t you? Ha… haha… ha…”

Hanayo hummed, a small smile tugging at her lips again, though it seemed much less enthusiastic now. “You’re right. There’s no way…”

“Hmm…” Rin scrunched her face together, her arm dropping to her side as she leaned back in to inspect Hanayo’s features. “Hey, Hanayo-chan? Can we be best friends?”

Hanayo lit up in surprise, taking in the smallest gasp. “Best… friends?” she repeated, fumbling for something to say. “I-I don’t think I’ve ever had a… best friend.”

Rin thought about that, her mind moving so slow. “I thought I was your best friend,” she said with a bit of a pout.

Hanayo’s brows furrowed, looking to meet Rin’s eyes. “Not… a best friend who was… a human,” she said slowly.

Confused, Rin stared slack-jawed as she tried to remember what it was she had said a little bit ago. The task wouldn’t be much easier if she were completely sober, in all honesty. “Yeah… right… um… so, do you want to be my best friend? It’s okay if you don’t. I know I’m a bit overbearing and loud sometimes and you’re really quiet and cute so maybe that’s a little much for you…”

“You’re not too much, Rin-chan,” Hanayo replied, shaking her head. “You’ve done so much for me and you’ve been nothing but kind to me. You’re very sweet and supportive as well… so of course I want to be your best friend…” 

Rin absently scooted closer next to Hanayo, her eyes drawing down as a thoughtful expression furrowed her brows and parted her lips. “Just… my best friend? Nothing else?” she murmured, unsure of what exactly she meant by the question and not entirely sure what she was asking at all. The last few moments were so cloudy, it was a wonder that she still had a grasp on the conversation as it stood.

“U-ummm… w-well,” Hanayo started, easily tripping over her own syllables. Her face flushed “I-I…”

Rin looked up, remembering something she wanted to ask Hanayo when they had a moment to themselves like this. Suddenly, it took up unprecedented importance in her mind. “Hey, you seem like the type of girl to forgive others easily, even if they don’t deserve it. You’re really kind and understanding like that. But do you think you’d… I dunno… forgive someone for pretending like they’re something they’re not? Like… what if that person wasn’t anything at all like what they introduced themself to be and then all of a sudden they’re a completely different person but just never told you because of one reason or another. Would you feel really upset about that? I think I would be… cause no one likes being lied to, you know?”

Hanayo watched her, her discomfort at the question apparent as she shuffled where she sat awkwardly. She shrugged unenthusiastically. “I-I’m not sure… I mean, surely there has to be a reason that someone would do something like that…”

Of course Hanayo would think that way. She was such a compassionate person, always trying to see the good in others. Rin was relieved, trying to think over her every reason why she never told Hanayo the truth or what was even stopping her now. 

It was all just so embarrassing, she realized. She didn’t know where she could start. She couldn’t tell Hanayo about anything prior to when she found her. She didn’t know how to explain that she wasn’t really a person at all when they met and how she was still a girl in her cat form, despite what it looked like. But she didn’t want to hide anything from her any more. She promised Eli that she’d come clean with her. It wasn’t fair to continue to keep Hanayo in the dark. She cared so much about her.

Amidst trying to piece together the words, Rin looked over Hanayo’s head when jet black fur caught her attention in the background. A chill ran down her spine as realization of who it was settled in. Just as she was paralyzed in shock, its massive head swung in her direction and she met those icy blue eyes. Its long, pointed ears rotated towards her as it watched her attentively. 

It couldn’t be. Not here…

With a final glance and a flick of its tail, the werewolf turned and headed off. 

Rin rigidly came to stand from the pool, her eyes following pointedly after where it left. She then frantically looked around for Eli, trying to remember when the last time that she saw her was. She scented the air, her mind running too quickly to try and decipher Eli’s scent from the flood of chlorine, alcohol, and sweat that assaulted her nose. She didn’t have time to try and find her, and Rin didn’t even know if she could fully explain her concerns to Eli without Eli turning on her, anyway.

She made to dart through the crowd to follow, jumping out of the pool and on her feet in a matter of seconds, but a voice brought her back down from her escalating state of panic.

“R-Rin-chan? What’s wrong?” Hanayo asked, confused. She still remained by the poolside, looking conflicted on whether or not she should follow. 

“Hanayo-chan, I’m sorry,” she started, trying to pick out what to do as she offered a hand to help Hanayo up. “You have to find Umi. She’ll protect you.”

Hanayo watched Rin’s hand for a long moment with a troubled demeanor. Finally, she took her hand and was helped out of the water. But when she was up and standing, Hanayo was reluctant to let go. “But what about you?” she questioned, squeezing Rin’s hand in both of hers. 

“I’ll be fine, I just have to worry about you first. Please, just find Umi and she’ll look after you. Don't try to leave the party by yourself, okay?” Rin tried to sound as confident as possible, knowing very well that her worried expression and troubled tone fell very flat of that mark. 

Hanayo could only give her a small, unenthusiastic nod. She didn’t seem entirely convinced with that plan, but it would be for the best in the long run. 

Suddenly aware of how things could go terribly wrong, Rin bit the inside of her lip hard and jumped forward to pull the other girl in a tight embrace. Hanayo, completely unprepared for it, squeaked in surprise. She may have expected her to pull away, but she remained unmoving. Rin squeezed hard, eyes screwing shut. Hanayo was so soft… 

“Rin-chan…” Hanayo mumbled wistfully into her shoulder, returning the hug with a comparably delicate squeeze. 

“Just remember what I told you to do, okay? Get going. I’ll be alright,” Rin pulled back just a bit, hesitating as she leaned to plant a kiss on her cheek.

Hanayo flushed, fumbling over words but ultimately falling quiet. She didn’t bring herself to meet Rin’s eyes, but she knew that Hanayo had heard her. She nodded at her, and Rin used that moment to steel herself with a large exhale before stepping back and letting go of her. She slipped on her shoes quickly, and darted off through the party.

She followed the last traces of where she had seen the wolf, scent proving useless in her endeavors due to the sheer amount of surrounding bodies. Rin started to check every room and corner that she went by, staring down occupied halls and lounging spaces. She shouldered past waiters and bumped into towering group of wereanimals consisting of wolves, tigers, a panda, and a stag. Rin could only spare a quick “Excuse me!” before ducking under their group toast. Several shots clattered together right above her, and she went relatively unacknowledged. She slipped out from the other side and continued on, her heart racing. 

She began to open doors to closets, washrooms, and game rooms. Rin startled a couple in the middle of something in one of the guest rooms, and they scrambled to make themselves more presentable while she scanned the rest of the room. When she saw no one familiar, she simply pulled the door shut and pressed on. 

She passed a dark tabby cat perched on one of the snacks tables, too small to be a wereanimal. It was just housecat sized. Still, she paused, looking to the cat and balling her fists. “Have you seen a mean, tall black werewolf pass by here?” She asked quickly. Rin didn’t know much about them, but if it were a witch’s familiar, it could certainly understand her. 

The cat regarded her for a moment with unnatural intelligence, looking across the main foyer and shaking its head. Rin deflated somewhat. “Thanks anyway, nya.” 

Her search seemed like it was becoming more and more aimless by the minute, but when she made her way to the central foyer and looked to the top of the spiral stairs to meet a pair of gold eyes, she froze. With those scrutinizing eyes and snowy hair, Rin immediately recognized her as Hiroyuki Minori, and the taller purple-haired woman next to her was Hachibana Mayumi. They watched her expectantly, waiting. Rin swallowed, knowing that they were expecting her to follow. She swallowed hard, looking down at the first few steps. She had to do this for Hanayo and her sisters. 

Clasping her fist at her side, Rin began ascending the stairs, not bringing her eyes up to the two awaiting women. No words were exchanged when she reached the top, and there didn’t need to be any before the both of them turned and started heading down the hallway. Rin followed obediently, nervously chewing on her lip. 

Chancing a glance up at them, neither of them paid any mind to her. Rin glanced around the walkway, keeping an eye out for any opening of escape should the need present itself. She didn’t have much time to ponder it as she noticed Kiyochiki Sanae at one end of the hall, arms crossed and leaning against the wall. On the opposite side of her, Kurukawa Kotone stood with her hands behind her head, watching the three of them pass through. Rin also noticed at this point in time that this side of the hall was devoid of people. And she had a feeling that it was completely intentional.

They entered one of the rooms, dimly lit by a single ornate desk lamp. Looking around, Rin saw the collection of stocked bookcases and couches. Two people were seated, one lounging comfortably on the divan casually clicking through the photos on a digital camera while the other sat upright on the other unoccupied seat. Even seated facing away from her, Rin recognized the blonde woman as Rei’s partner, Sauveterre Euphemia. The other, looking up from the camera to watch her with interest, was Harada Suzume. 

She took in the rest of her surroundings, looking to her two escorts to watch Mayumi move back to comfortably block the only exit she currently knew of. Her attention was drawn to a rustling somewhere within the room, and a cloud of uncertainty hung in her heart. 

Rin already knew who it was before she even laid eyes on her. “You… you can’t be here,” she started, meaning to speak with purpose, but her voice cracked a little. 

Stepping out from between the bookshelves, Tsuruya Rei adjusted the leather jacket around her form. Rin realize that that was almost the only article of clothing that she currently had on, with the exception of a pair of shorts and boots. A sharp clattering sounded to Rin’s left, drawing her attention to Minori surfacing a small orange bottle from the inside of her doctor’s coat. 

Prescription drugs? 

She tossed it over, and Rei caught it in a single hand, eyes drawing to the label. “That’s pretty cruel, Rin-chan,” she replied evenly. Though always calm, Rei’s voice always had an effect that made Rin involuntarily shiver. “It’s a night of celebration, as you know. I do think I deserve to be here as well.”

“You promised you’d stay away from us if I gave you what you wanted… so why are you here?” Rin tried to keep strong in her conviction to get her answers. It was hard. Even in a place where Rei shouldn’t have had power over her, she still felt like she was in deep trouble.

Rei’s brows rose slightly, stepping forward to pace slowly around her, fitting her hands in her jacket pockets. The pills clattered in the container before disappearing out of view. “I think you forget who usually asks the questions. But maybe I can overlook the overt disobedience and give you the benefit of the doubt.”

Rin swallowed uncomfortably, her legs aching from standing so stiffly. Her eyes darted around the room for any hints of movement, but everyone kept in their places. She hung her head, feeling her phone burning in the pocket of her shorts. She should have called for help. But that most definitely would have ended in a fight and she wanted to do everything in her power to make sure that no one was hurt tonight. “Please… I don’t want any trouble. That’s why I agreed to this in the first place, right?”

“That’s right,” Rei affirmed her, using that mockingly enthusiastic voice that she had often used to talk down to her. “And you’ve done a wonderful job telling me everything that I’ve needed to know. So rest assured, everything is taken care of. Your assistance thus far has ensured that no direct harm comes to your pack.” 

“Direct harm…?” Rin paled, knowing very well that every word Rei said was intentionally crafted, that small detail in her “reassurance” unmissed.

As if on queue, a ring from behind her sounded and she whipped around.

Mayumi, keeping cold, uninterested eye contact with her, brought her phone up to her ear. Rin perked to hear the words on the other line.

“ _They’ve left. South bound, transformed like you said. You won’t have trouble keeping up with them_ ,” a feminine voice said and Rin knew it to be Maria’s voice immediately from what little she has done to speak up for her protection in times of meeting like this. But she wasn’t here now. Only Euphemia. But even then, Euphemia was strangely detached and paying little attention to the scene. Mayumi said nothing back to Maria, putting her phone down and ending the call before she gave a quick look to Rei and then to Minori before she turned and started out.

Rin’s heart leapt with panic. “What’s going on?” She asked nervously. 

“At this point in time, now, it’s all out of my hands. So we may as well sit back and enjoy the rest of the night while it remains peaceful, shall we?” Rei’s lips stretched in a smug grin. 

“I-I’m going to tell Umi. You can’t get away with this,” Rin managed, hoping her spineless threat got through on some level.

As quickly as Rei’s grin appeared, it was gone. “And then what?” She pressed. 

“A-and then… then she’ll…” Rin clenched her fists at her side, hating that she didn’t have anything in Rei like she had on her.

Rei cut in before she could find anything to say, her tone monotonous. “Do you really think that if they knew the truth about you, they would want to be your friend?” 

She felt the seconds turn into hours as she took in those words. “The truth…? You never told me the truth… that was also a part of the agreement, but you haven’t told me anything!”

“Oh, but naïve little Rin-chan, I’ve only had your best interest in mind.” Rei finished a circle around her, locking eyes with her. “It’s really quite a pity. But if you’re really so eager to know, then I suppose it can’t be helped.” She stopped, her head tilting condescendingly and a humorless grin at her lips as she let the silence settle uncomfortably. “I don’t believe that they would want to be friends—let alone sisters—with an _animal_.” 

Rin carefully turned, her back never to Rei. “I’m not an animal…” she murmured, her brows furrowed in confusion. Rei must have known this, as well.

“Once an animal, always an animal, they say. I suppose one would have a hard time remembering if they let their humanity slip away from them.” Rei stepped backwards, viewing her with a new look of disgust. “I don’t see how you would be able to carry yourself if you remembered. After all, you were practically a house pet. It’s no wonder I can call to you and you’ll grovel at my feet, listening to my every command, desperate for a pat on the head.”

Rin stared, unsure of what Rei was getting at. She had been tricked. She had her arm twisted behind her—there was no way that she was as obedient as Rei called her out to be. She didn't know what she meant. “You’re… you're talking about the time before I lost my memory?”

“Of course,” Rei smiled, the notion making Rin sick to her stomach. “After you were abandoned by your birth family, you were captured by an animal control agency whilst living aimlessly in the mountains for years. I’ve never heard of something so disgusting. I wonder if they had to treat you for rabies.”

“Rei,” a warning note sounded from Euphemia, a heavy prickle of tension settling between them. For the first time, Euphemia turned to look over her shoulder at Rei, her brows furrowed and her lips pressed in a thin line. Rei didn’t acknowledge her.

“You were taken into a shelter that had you locked in a cage day in and out. That was until the government came in and standardized the facility’s conditions, realizing that they could train these dirty animals for something useful since no one wanted them. And you fell right into line as long as they wagged food in front of your nose, being the brainless creature you were. You even let them put their mark on you. Only the weakest, most shameful wereanimals allow themselves to be subjected to that.”

What? 

Rin stared, her eyes wide with disbelief. Without thinking, she reached back, her fingers ghosting over the strange tiger branded into her rump underneath her clothes.

“Once an obedient beasts turns uncooperative, there’s no use for it anymore. Quadrupedal wereanimals can easily fall to their barbaric, vicious nature if transformed for too long, after all. They stop being human and start being more animal. No one likes a troublesome, simple-minded creature that can’t follow simple commands. You probably would have been euthanized within a fortnight if you hadn’t escaped.”

Of course.

How could she have forgotten? Everything made so much sense.

Hungry, weak, beaten, exhausted. The pain in her joints and the lacerations around her ankles and the collar cutting into her neck were all suddenly so vivid in her mind. As her eyes dropped, a thousand images burned into the backs of her retinas. 

She remembered days of hard training and the yank of her collar whenever she ventured out too far. The hot days spent in grievous conditions that were easily and quickly relieved if she followed the commands she was given. She could remember feeling the pride that eventually swelled up in her chest whenever she excelled at her duties when other wereanimals refused to give in.

Other wereanimals…? She wasn’t the only one...

She remembered the gnawing ache of starvation deep in her belly when she began to go awry. She remembered trying to transform back and the beatings she took for when she was brave enough to attempt to regain her humanity and got caught. 

Tears burned at the corners of her eyes. Why had that happened to her? What did she do to deserve any of this?

“But that probably wasn’t even the start of it anyway, right? You were probably already used to living as a creature—something lower than low. Why else would you have become a circus pet if you didn’t? You’ve probably never even been bipedal while transformed. What does that say about you?”

Years. It must have been years before she managed to escape. She was living like that for so long. She didn’t ever remember being able to stand on two legs transformed like Umi and Honoka or like how Eli was learning to at a rate much faster than her. Umi had always said that being able to stand on two legs showed the connection that a wereanimal had with their humanity—mentally and physically. Could the reason being that she could never achieve such a status was because of what Rei was telling her now all along?

“And what would Sonoda do if she knew?” Rei pressed further. “She has an image to keep. You would bring shame to her name, to their cause. I bet you’d even be kicked out of the pack, attacked like the monster you really are. You don’t belong here. You don’t belong anywhere.”

Rin trembled vigorously as the thoughts of doubt and fear and hurt assaulted her. She hugged herself tight, the tears falling freely. She didn’t want to be hurt. She didn’t want to be taken advantage of. She didn’t want to be in this place anymore. She had done enough to hurt Umi and Eli and Honoka and even Hanayo and Nozomi with all the things she was forced to tell Rei about them—about their schedules and their secrets, their dreams and their ambitions. Her being here only made things worse for everyone. She had been tricked and hurt and she just didn’t want to be a part of this any more.

“You’re right…” Rin muttered, her voice cracking. She hated that she had been backed into this corner and she couldn’t turn away from the facts. She was just trouble. Too much to deal with. She complicated and messed up everything for Umi. She would definitely ruin her image. She was ashamed of herself. She was plagued with the sickening thought that if she had never met Hanayo—if she hadn’t met any of them—they wouldn’t be in danger now. None of them would be if she didn’t exist. 

Euphemia stood up abruptly from her chair, turning fully to Rei. “Do you fucking hear yourself? Who’s the _real_ monster here?!” She spat.

Before much else unfolded, Rin bolted from the room, head bowed and tears streaking down her face. No one moved to stop her.

Out in the vast and empty hallway, she fell to her knees, wracked with sobs. She gritted her teeth together hard, eyes screwed shut as she let the familiar racks of pain overcome her, her body lighting on fire as she changed into her animal form then and there. The remnants of her costume ripped and fell off, left as tatters on the ground before she bounded off, crashing through a window in her blurred rush as she saw the dark expanse of night offer her a breath of quick escape. Then, Rin ran as far from there as she could.

* * *

A repeated melody of happy humming bounded through the bustling dining room. Honoka perked up and scanned the people seated, a small bottle of sake and a shot glass nestled into her arm and her other arm outstretched exaggeratedly and holding a wine glass with a thick red liquid sloshing around in it. 

She found who she was looking for, beaming with energy as she made her way past the snack bar, cape flowing behind her as she came up to a small, round table with three chairs at it, one of them already occupied by Kira Tsubasa. 

“I got what you asked for! Smells like salt and what it tastes like to have a handful of screws in your mouth. Yuck! Here ya go!” Honoka placed it down in front of her company and plopped down into an unoccupied chair, clinking her shot glass and sake bottle unceremoniously onto the table. “Whew! I’m glad you didn't leave! There's a lot to do, so I don’t blame Umi-chan or Rin-chan or Eli-chan and I definitely wouldn't blame you if you had something else to do! Well… I mean, I guess I left Rin-chan because I got distracted by food. Story of my life, though, haha!”

Tsubasa nodded in thanks, amused as she reached and slid the glass in front of her slowly, one of her brows quirked as she watched Honoka as if she was just the most interesting thing. 

Honoka pushed away her shot glass and went straight to the small sake bottle. She rose it in a toast. “Anyway! Cheers!” 

A gentle, three noted giggle sounded from Tsubasa. “Cheers,” she grinned and rose her wine glass in stark contrast to Honoka’s sake bottle. 

This wasn't Honoka’s first drink of the night, so it went down easy—easier than sake tended to go, which was kind of like drinking dry water normally. She let out a satisfied sigh and placed the bottle down as her insides warmed pleasantly. 

“So Kira-san! Can you eat delicious foods like bread or do you strictly have to stick to drinking blood and stuff?”

Tsubasa hummed thoughtfully and swerved her drink in her glass. “We actually can’t eat anything solid. There are exceptions if it’s blended, iron-packed and greatly watered down, or mixed with blood, but we mostly need the protein hemoglobin found in red blood cells to survive, though its cousins can sustain us for a while in its stead. A pure blood-based diet is most desired, but over the centuries, that has become more and more uncommon. We’ve gotten a bit more creative with what we have to work with, as you could have guessed,” she explained before she lifted her glass as an unspoken example.

Intrigued, Honoka nodded along enthusiastically. “Even though that’s just about the saddest thing I’ve ever heard, I’m sure you’ve found some things you like to eat! What’s your favorite drink then?!”

“Hmm. If I think about it, I’d say I’m holding it right now.”

Honoka gasped. “Is that so?! That’s such a good feeling to have! I can’t eat my favorite foods without getting nagged by my sister!”

“You have siblings?” Tsubasa inquired next. 

“Yep! There’s Umi-chan, Rin-chan, and Eli-chan. Hanayo-chan and Nozomi-chan are kinda part of the family too now, I guess?”

“A big family… that sounds like fun.” Tsubasa acknowledged with a small smile.

“Yeah… oh! I also have an actual blood-related little sister, Yukiho, but I’ve had to mostly grow up without her. I try to see her as often as I can, but she's focused on her last year in high school and she's super involved and popular. Me becoming a werewolf and all was a little weird on my mom and dad and her. But they agreed to it because it saved me from being really sick when I was little and they love me no matter what,” Honoka explained, her tone mellowing out the longer she spoke about her past. 

“You’ve been a werewolf since you were young, then?” Tsubasa asked as she rose her wine glass back to her lips and took a sip.

“Mhm… since I was nine...” Honoka trailed off. She didn't let the heavy topic keep her down for long. “Anyway! Did you ever go to high school? What were things like back in the day?”

“High school wasn't so much of a thing when I was around that age. I turned thirteen in 1857, so I’m rather old-fashioned but not nearly as old as some other vampires I know.”

Honoka clapped her hands together excitedly. “Wow! Amazing! Were you always a vampire?”

“No, I was turned, just like you,” she said with a wry grin and a shrug. “And contrary to popular belief, only true vampires can turn humans into vampires and I did have a choice in the matter.”

She hummed as she tried to piece all of the information she knew about Tsubasa together. “Nishikino-san turned you and so now you serve her?” She asked before tilting her sake bottle up for another big drink.

“Actually, Nishikino-sama’s mother was the one who turned me. When Nishikino-sama herself was born, then my charge fell to her,” she clarified.

“‘ _-sama’_? So cool... so true vampires are born while turned vampires are just that! I had no idea!”

“I had no idea werewolves were so cute and energetic,” Tsubasa countered with a bit of mischievousness in her expression. “Or is that the alcohol that's making you so excitable?”

“Hehe. I’m not even buzzed! So, this is your pure, average Honoka!” She returned as she pressed a finger into her cheek and gave a sheepish grin. 

“I see…” Tsubasa said under her breath as she leaned forward, planting a delicate elbow onto the table and propping up her chin on her palm. “Say, with a smile that bright and eyes as pretty as yours, you must have people lining up down the block for a chance to be with you. You must have had many lovers in the past, despite your young age.”

“Lovers?” Honoka cocked her head and adapted a pensive look before she shrugged noncommittally. “Nope! I’m not super interested in that type of thing.”

Tsubasa blinked in response, a corner of her mouth raising. “Really?”

“Yep! Don't get me wrong, I like kisses and hugs and having fun at cool places and stuff. I used to think Umi-chan was my soulmate because I love her so much, but then I realized that there was a difference in the way lovers like each other and the way I like Umi-chan. Umi-chan would never kiss me though, cause she thinks it’s embarrassing and childish.” Honoka pouted. 

“I would kiss you.” Tsubasa said without batting an eyelash. 

“Would you?!” She gaped as both of her hands smacked down onto the table, absolutely ecstatic at the phrase that she instantly considered a compliment. “No one’s ever said that to me before! Thanks!”

Tsubasa covered her mouth with her hand as a bout of giggles overtook her cool and smoldering demeanor. Honoka’s shoulders squeezed together as she flushed, figuring she must have said something silly like she usually did. Tsubasa had a super cute laugh. 

A sharp ringing pulled Honoka’s attention away, her eyes falling to Tsubasa’s side. The woman seemed apologetic, reaching into her pocket. “I’m sorry, but I have to take it,” she explained, and Honoka nodded her head vigorously. 

“No, no, it’s totally fine. I understand…”

Tsubasa smiled in gratitude and glanced down at her phone. When she read the caller ID, her expression fell to that of a serious one. She answered and lifted it to her ear, silently listening. Honoka was able to hear the other line from where she sat. She tried to cover her eavesdropping with casualness, bothering to pour an actual shot of her sake instead of taking to the bottle. 

“ _We have a situation outside,_ ” the voice reported, sounding urgent. “ _I’ve already gone to search for Nishikino-sama. You might want to survey it for yourself. Anju should also be there. Try to keep things from escalating, though it’s a very tall order right now. I know they’re armed._ ”

Something was going on? Honoka’s mind immediately jumped to the rules that were put up for Halloween, thinking that that _had_ to be the cause of this brewing commotion. She should have known that it would come down to something like this.

“I’ll be there momentarily,” Tsubasa stated. No other words were exchanged before the line went dead. She looked back to Honoka, frowning. “As rude as I would feel leaving amidst our time together, it looks like I have t–”

“Let me go with you!” Honoka blurted, leaping up from the table with an otherworldly energy. “I want to help! I can be really helpful! I’m super good with my nose! Like, really really good!”

Tsubasa blinked, surveying her for a moment. “Well, I would not want to share this burden with you, especially if it turns out to be dangerous. I would strongly advise for you to find your family and make sure that they’re alright. However, I cannot stop you. So, I will leave the decision to you.”

Honoka paused, realizing that finding her sisters was just as urgent as anything else. The fact that she didn’t immediately shoot down her offer also didn’t go unnoticed. Umi was always so quick to tell her she couldn’t do things that may have been dangerous. “I’ll find them and meet up with you. I know Umi-chan can help too,” she assured, and Tsubasa simply nodded as Honoka spun around and sped off. 

She tried to brainstorm the quickest, surest way to find everyone. She pulled her phone out and sent an email to all of them, her brow furrowing as she finished the message. Though it wasn’t as refined as it was in her other form, Honoka was still able to rely on her nose enough to get the job done. She was extremely familiar with how Umi smelled, so finding a trace to follow was easy enough. Given the amount of people and things muddying her senses, it was challenging to follow, but Honoka quickly made progress. 

She crossed paths with Rin’s scent, and it pulled at her attention because it was quite recent. The sooner she could find everyone, the better, so she went ahead and followed that instead, finding traces on the stair railing. 

“Woah, wait,” Honoka paused, picking up strongly on the scent that she recognized as Rin’s cat form. Why did she go on and do that? Granted, they were allowed to do whatever they pleased at this party, but Rin had a costume on and wouldn’t transform without good reason.

Honoka followed until she was at one of the lesser-occupied halls, gasping and covering her mouth. There were a few people gathered, some scratching their heads and others crossing their arms. There was broken glass littering the floor below a massive window. 

There were also the faint traces of blood that colored the glass and melded into the crimson carpet. Honoka stiffened and dropped to one knee, the troubling scent of cinnamon mixed into the cocktail of different smells. Worry gripped her like seeping cold ice. She sprung up and darted from the scene in search of Umi. She caught onto the relatively fresh track she had been following and looked ahead a gathered crowd, a head of long, navy blue hair finally catching her eye. She had to squint at the blaringly bright blue and red lights that rotated in the air, the shouting from the crowd so loud, she could feel the vibrations of angry voices all the way down to her bones.

“Umi-chan!” Honoka called out, an uncharacteristic desperation in her voice, shouldering through people who gave her irritated or distracted looks. 

The response was near immediate as Umi snapped around, her complexion pale with worry. “Honoka!” She turned, the relief in her eyes a short-lived blessing before she looked around frantically. “Wh-where are Rin and Eli?”

Honoka couldn’t immediately come up with an answer to that, her mind bouncing between so many alarming possibilities. “I haven’t found Eli-chan yet,” she reported with a frown, her eyes dropping. “And Rin-chan… I don’t know. I think she ran off as a cat.” Honoka looked past Umi, noticing that a girl with an equally worried expression was with her, grasping tightly at Umi’s hand. She was pretty familiar, actually. 

There was a beat of confusion in Umi’s eyes. “What do you mean she—”

Just then, the noise in the crowd shifted to be unbearably loud as an escalating argument stirred at the front. The wails of someone holding setting the siren off on a megaphone pierced through the air, trying to grab the attention of the crowd. Bright, pointed white lights assaulted her eyes. Everything could have taken place during the day if she hadn't known any better, spotlights in concentrated beams covering a wide radius of the yard and the lights of recording news cameras and smartphones filling in the gaps between people as they tried to get their own individual footage of the event. 

“Halloween is cancelled. By order of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and the Halloween Discontinuation Clause, we demand again that you return to your homes immediately!” A mechanical voice screeched through the megaphone.

The roar of disapproval that followed was deafening. Honoka found her solidarity to step forward as Umi whipped around to face the numerous squad cars and SUVs circling the courtyard. There were too many officers to count standing tense behind the doors of their vehicles. Tsubasa and some other vampires were standing between a line of officers with riot shields and gas masks and the restless party guests.

Honoka’s heart was pounding. She looked uncertainly to Umi, who had a tense furrow at her brow and her jaw clenched tight. What should they do?

A hand brushed against her shoulder and Honoka’s attention snapped to the side. It was Nico, a cold expression in her crimson eyes as she looked on ahead at the scene. Most of her costume was missing and she had puncture wounds all over her neck. She was flanked by a vampire that must have worked for Maki as well, judging by her state of dress that was similar to Tsubasa’s. The vampire pressed on through the crowd last, following shortly behind by Nico and Nishikino Maki, making her way through in a luxurious fur robe. A crew of cameramen followed closely behind, their large equipment creating a huge part in the crowd as they cut through behind the hostess. 

If looks could kill, Maki would have a significant body count. As she got through, her presence became more and more known, stirring an energy of anticipation as she broke through the front of the gathered guests and up to the line of vampires separating them from the police. She ran a hand through her slightly tousled red hair, annoyed.

Maki extended either of her hands in a welcoming gesture, though her popped hip and tone said much of the opposite. “Welcome to my manor. Quite the entrance you’ve made. How about we stop with the jokes and continue along through this night without any further incident?” She looked about, dropping her arms slowly as the officers showed no sign of losing their tension. The crowd settled enough, watching with pointed gazes for how Maki planned to dispel this confrontation.

“This is your final warning. Disperse the party now and have everyone return home. This is the Tokyo Metropolitan Police behind the authority of the Halloween Discontinuation Clause!” The megaphone shrieked out and Maki kissed her teeth. 

“Perhaps you’re not hearing me,” she called out, audibly more irritated. “I don’t like jokes. No one is leaving here until they’re done with the party. Or, if they’re an officer, running with their tail tucked in between their legs.”

The crowd hollered in approval and the officers looked between one another nervously.

“We’ve got magic, wereanimals, and vampires that are faster and stronger than any of you weak bullies!” Nico shouted next to Honoka, perfectly breaking through the commotion. “What’re you gonna do, huh?!”

With that, the entire mob of people erupted in a powerful challenge, shouting similar taunts that got more and more aggressive by the minute.

Honoka feared the worst. There was no way anyone was walking away with this without punches being thrown. She felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest. 

It took less than a second for the tipping point to be realized. Honoka didn't know if someone on their side pushed first or if an officer rose a baton with intention that sparked off a sudden onslaught of criss-crossing blurs of movement, some baring head first into the line of officers with shields while others captured every moment with their smartphones. 

Honoka noticed the sudden clatter of several metal can-looking objects sliding across the floor underneath the legs of the crowd. A fraction of a second passed as she recognized what it was she was looking at. She threw an arm over her nose and leap back as the initial bursts of tear gas shot out of the grenades. She cleared the area by at least ten meters in the blink of an eye. 

Not everyone else could move as quickly or as far. She watched in horror as people wretched and retaliated with spells or dispersed throughout the yard, screaming. 

Her eyes desperately searched for Umi, having lost sight of her for a moment. Through the running patrons and the flash of magic and moving bodies and yelling, she spotted Umi on the other side of the courtyard, having had a similar idea to Honoka’s to disengage from the brunt of the confrontation as quickly as possible. Umi had picked up the girl she was holding hands with bridal style and was setting her back on her feet by the time Honoka darted over. She yelped as she came to a skidding stop next to Umi, very nearly slamming into her.

The jarring sound of a single gunshot pierced through the commotion and all three of them ducked instinctively and broke for cover. Blood roared in her ears as they strafed the side of the courtyard and made a beeline towards to the mansion, many people having a similar idea as a disarray of moving bodies clattered towards the front doors.

“Wh-what do we do, Umi-chan?!” Honoka shouted out just behind her, following right on her tail. 

Umi was scanning the area like a hawk, trying to find the safest opening for them to take. She could hear Umi’s heart thundering in her chest. “I don't know! This is just insane!”

“Do you think we can find a way around the cops and leave?” Honoka pressed, ducking out of the way as a weretiger on all fours rushed past them. 

“We can't leave without knowing if Rin and Eli are safe!” Umi yelled. 

“You two! Watch out!” The other girl shouted, spinning on her heels and shoving the two of them behind her as they sharply turned around in confusion to look behind them. 

A squad car with wailing sirens sailed through the air right towards them, Honoka freezing where she stood and failing to react fast enough to get out of the way. She tripped over her feet, falling on her rear and shielding her head with her arms helplessly. She braced herself for what was to come, tensing. 

A cacophonous crash echoed throughout the yard, crinkles of broken glass sounding as the winding of a broken siren slowed and died out. 

She waited a moment longer, failing to register the lapse in time that had just occurred between when imminent impact was and now. Honoka blinked her eyes open, panting as she looked up, her eyes catching on a flickering, faint blue light that created a shield in between her, Umi, and the familiar girl. She took in the scene slowly, realizing that the car had been stopped midair and crashed into the pavement, caved in and malformed in the middle like a train slammed the vehicle and crushed it. Honoka’s mouth dropped, her wide eyes looking to Umi, who was equally as surprised and splayed out on her palms and rear. 

The girl had her arm extended out, grasping a gnarled, long piece of wood that had tarnished brass snaking the length of the outside, encasing a beautiful glowing emerald at the tip. 

Honoka stared in awe as the witch dissipated the thin-looking magic in front of them with a wave of her fingers. 

“Kotori!” At the corner of her eye, Honoka spotted Nico running over, her own wand in her hand. She was out of breath, eyes darting between the three of them. “Holy shit,” she uttered, surveying the scene before her. 

“Nico-chan,” Kotori acknowledged her calmer than the situation warranted. “Please watch after Sonoda-san and her sister. Excuse me.” She moved past them with her wand at her side, and Honoka continued to stare at her as she walked on. Nico looked like she was going to protest, but she pressed her lips together, turning to the both of them with a clouded look.

“W-where is she going?” Umi asked, seeming as if she was conflicted between staying there and following after her. 

Nico turned and offered Honoka a hand to help her up. “She’s going to end all of this,” she said stiffly, hoisting Honoka onto her feet. Nico shook her head and muttered, “I can’t believe her, the idiot…”

“And how does she plan on…” Honoka trailed off, looking to Kotori and witnessing her point her wand at a heated exchange between a werebear and a cop with a riot shield. The magic shot forth, a blue and pink stream arching off and hitting both of them. The moment it did, all aggression from both parties seemed to dissipate, and they were left staring at each other in bewilderment. 

Kotori followed up with identical spells to other targets around her. A group of officers loading guns entered into the fray, but before they could aim down the barrels, Kotori flicked her wand and snatched all of the weapons out of their hands. The guns floated above them before they shot off and out of view into the dark sky. 

A group of rebels took that opportunity to charge those officers, but a bright blue stream of magic shot forth from Kotori’s wand, hitting them and paralyzing them where they stood. They couldn’t budge, frozen in place by the enchantment. The only thing that could move were their eyes, which were darting around frantically and confusedly. 

“Traitor!” Another witch in the chaos yelled and hurled a spell at Kotori, crackling plasmic energy shooting towards her. 

Kotori whipped around and effortlessly deflected the magic, the energy shooting off into the sky as within the blink of an eye, she brought down her wand and sent a familiar blue and pink magic arching towards her. But the witch responded aptly, countering the spell with a wave of her wand, unaffected by Kotori’s attempt as she sent a barrage of streaming white missiles sailing right towards her. 

Kotori put up both hands and the thin light blue shield reappeared in front of her, blocking the magical projectiles. Next to her, an officer fell to the ground, trying to defend himself with his baton as a vampire easily plucked it away and tossed it aside, preparing to attack. The projectiles still assaulted her at the front but there was little hesitation as Kotori took her wandless hand and pointed two fingers at them, paralyzing magic shooting from her fingertips and holding both parties in place. 

She turned her attention back to the attacking witch, her shield burning brightly with white light as it dispersed into millions of cyan blue fragments that seeked the missiles and snuffed them out in midair before they could reach her. The other witch seemed shocked as she ceased her attack and swung around her wand, mouthing an incantation as golden wisps began to circle around the tip of her wand. Kotori rose her wand and copied the motion, silent as her wand generated identical golden wisps and snowballed into a concentrated orb in seconds. She flung the spell forward and the witch’s magic burned out as the ball hit her. She recoiled back, expression that of disbelief as she attempted to cast more magic, but her wand was unresponsive. When she threw her wand down and tried to conjure a spell in between her palms, the magic sizzled out instantly and she cursed.

Kotori angled her attention towards the heart of the fighting, deflecting aggressors from all sides with an invisible force field of protection. More of the chaos started to file in behind her, obscuring her more and more from Honoka’s vision. 

Then she disappeared from view completely. 

Honoka could only hold her breath, looking for any sort of sign that she was alright, the anticipation crushing her lungs.

A thunderous, low-resonating boom sounded from the epicenter of the conflict, a bright blue field exploding outward and catching everyone inside of it. Honoka flinched as it hit her, too, waiting for some sort of magic to take effect.

But when it passed through her, nothing happened. It felt a little cold, but otherwise, she was alright. The scene suddenly fell deafeningly silent. Honoka opened her eyes slowly to glance around, gasping. 

Every person that it passed through stiffened where they were, halting all action. They were all conscious, much like the two she had frozen before, since the only thing that could move were their eyes. Honoka’s attention drew to the larger movement amidst the frozen figures, and she saw Kotori ducking and sliding past people who were in mid-swing or casting spells.

Her, Nico, and Umi—who had also not been affected by the spell—looked on silently as Kotori made her way back to them, awed to silence.

They didn’t even get any words out before Kotori abruptly fell to her knees in front of them, her wand clattering to the floor as she lurched forward onto her palms, gasping for air. 

“M-Minami-san!” Umi called as she scrambled towards her, effectively knocked out of her daze. 

One of her hands shot up as she motioned for Umi not to get any closer. Umi stopped dead in her tracks as she made to reach out for her. 

Then, the witch choked and expelled the contents of her stomach out onto the ground, her body quivering as she retched violently. The scent of alcohol and bile mixed with blood assaulted Honoka’s senses as a crimson liquid was ejected from her lips in sickening splotches.

A small, reddish screech owl darted through the sky and landed on the pavement behind Kotori, angled towards her as it hopped back and forth and flapped its wings helplessly. 

Kotori wobbled from her crouched position, her body unable to stay upright on its own, but Umi was quick to move next to her and offer her support, wrapping her arm around Kotori’s midsection and allowing her to collapse against her chest. She panted heavily, a fresh sweat breaking out on her forehead. 

Nico looked grave, her fists clutched at her sides. “Such an idiot,” she mumbled before raising her voice. “You _know_ better than to push yourself that much! Just because you can do it, that doesn’t mean you should!” Though she explicitly expressed anger, Honoka caught pain and frustration in Nico’s voice as well. 

“Wh-what do we do? Minami-san, do you need medical attention?” Umi asked worriedly. 

Honoka was still stunned, looking back out to the scene before her and surveying the aftermath. In the distance, more sirens blared closer, but thankfully for now, it seemed as if the trouble had passed.

“D-don't worry about me. We should get inside before something else bad happens. I-I think I’ve just about hit my limit for what I can do today,” Kotori weakly answered. The words were sure enough, but with her voice trembling, it made it hard to completely trust in her surety she had in her own words.

“How long does this last?” Honoka asked, starting to think about what would happen if none of them would be able to move for an extended period of time. 

“A spell of that magnitude? Could be hours,” Nico said as she went and attended Kotori’s other arm, though Umi hardly needed help as she come to a stand, carrying all of Kotori’s weight as they began to start for the mansion.

“I think we need to gather who we can inside. We also need to find somewhere to safely dispose of the weapons while no one can—” Kotori flinched and choked on her words, her head bowing as she swallowed hard and hissed in pain. The owl flew up to rest on her shoulder.

Umi regarded Kotori with worry. “Don’t try to do anything else… please take it easy. We can handle it from here.”

Honoka noticed another figure making her way through the paralyzed people, also seemingly unaffected by the reaches of the spell. It was Nishikino Maki, looking ruffled and seething with anger as she looked about the courtyard. Her eyes naturally fell to them as the only people still moving in sight. She easily caught up to them, her gaze lingering on Nico for a moment before it swam around the lot of them.

“You don’t happen to be the people responsible for stopping this mess, do you?” Maki gestured to them. 

Umi looked over her shoulder and paused her movements. “Yes,” she replied simply for Kotori. 

Maki paused and wrinkled her nose as she noticed the splatter of bile and blood on the floor a few feet away. “Great. This is a headache, but you stopped it from becoming a migraine. I could use your help. I’ll do what I can for your friend inside.”

Honoka sagged in relief. She didn’t know much about Maki, but the prospect of her lending out her aid at this moment seemed like a huge help. But—“What about everyone else who needs help?”

“I’ll get right on it,” Maki replied. “I didn’t hire a ton of attendants to just stand around and serve drinks. Gotta clean up this mess somehow. It’s gonna be a long damn night.”


	17. Part Three: Spiraling Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow ! we got so excited to post a continuation, here it is! thank you so much for the nice comments! all aboard the angst train, we're gonna be on it for a while! and just as a heads up, i should be finishing up some earlier illustrations and starting to get those out once again soon. please look forward to them and thank you for following!

_Before her first year of college was to commence, she wanted to take the time off and see her family on her mother’s side. Though the cold whipped relentlessly at what little skin she had exposed, there was a strange comfort being back that could only have been birthed from nostalgia. The white-powdered woods reached towards dreary, darkening skies, and the wind soared in her ears while her steps crunched ice underfoot. She held a bag close to her chest, using it to help shield herself from the wind chill._

_The sun was always quick to sink at this time of year, already hiding away behind the horizon. The landscape stretched on and on, past what the eye could see. Russia in winter had the effect of making someone feel so insignificant._

_The chill that she felt starting up the back of her spine was not a result of the frosty air. Eli’s attention whipped towards the treeline, and a loud, reverberating howl shook her core. Dread started to wipe over her, and she became desperate to make her footsteps quicker._

_Her breath came in quick bursts, her exhales quickly condensing into clouds and whisking away. Her heart raced and she started to panic. The noise neared, zoning in on her. She was being chased. She had to run, and she had to run faster or else she would be caught._

_Eli had never known what it felt like to be completely and utterly terrified. Now it felt like it was all she had ever known._

_She could barely get out a scream for help before she heard the heavy pounding of footfalls in the snow behind her. A powerful creature lunged and tackled her to the ground, fangs sinking into her shoulder. Her bag toppled out in front of her, sending its contents of food and drink skidding across the snow._

_Her head bit the cold ground sharply, dazing her. She tried to thrash and scream and struggle, but the creature sank its sharp teeth into her arm, yanking and tearing. She tried to kick at its mottled sides or free herself from its grasp, but it growled and snapped, ears tucked back with rabid, golden glowering eyes._

_Blood spattered across the snow, and red hot pain seared at her wounds. Punching, hitting, scratching… it all took purchase on her aggressor, but nothing seemed to phase it. She reached away blindly, feeling for one of the bottles that she knew she had, but they felt as if they were miles away. Through the tears and pain, she extended her arm just far enough to feel the bottom of the bag, trying to pull it towards her._

_Just for a split moment, the wolf let go to reposition its jaws around her throat, but she found the bottle of cider and swung it around, shattering glass and its half frozen contents on the animal. It yelped out and Eli brought the broken bottle into its shoulder. It whined and turned to run off, leaving a fresh trail of blood behind._

_Newly doused in liquid and glass and left on the cold ground, Eli breathed raggedly. Trembling fingertips went to brush against her shoulder, barely having the energy to flinch away from the searing pain. With her parka torn, soaked, and ripped, she was quickly chilled to the bone. The blood and cider cooled as it was exposed to the air, and she shivered. She rolled her head in the snow to glance down and watch the red stain the snow around her._

_It could have been so easy to allow the cold to numb her senses and be done with it, to slip away and be forgotten. But then she remembered Alisa. She was waiting for her still. How long would she be kept waiting if she perished here? Would she wait through the night before going out? Or was she looking for her even now?_

_Eli rolled around, groaning in pain, and looked ahead at the rest of her journey that was now practically impossible. She began to move forward, dragging herself through the stark white snow with labored breaths. Her limbs were screaming at her, shaking and giving out beneath her, exhausted. Then she stilled, ice cushioning her head and numbing her cheeks._

_This had to be it, then? Eli didn’t even have the energy to cry, though the tears stung at her eyes and the emotions swelled up in her throat._

_She didn’t want to die. Not here, not now… but why? Why was this world so cruel and unfair? What did she do to deserve this?_

_Her questions buzzed in her mind, followed by her regrets and her malcontent. It was hard to tell how much time passed, especially with her short eighteen years flashing before her eyes._

_She didn’t want to die. She would do anything not to die here today._

Anything.

_She could feel ice form on her eyebrows and at the corners of her eyes. Ice began crawling into her blood and seeping through her fingertips, nose, and toes, blissfully taking away the waves of harsh pain that wracked her body._

_She convulsed once._

_Twice._

_Three times._

_She lost count like she was counting sheep as her eyes became almost impossible to keep open._

_The edges of her vision grew dark._

_Time seemed to slow to a grinding halt._

_The warm clouds of her weak breaths became less and less significant and grew cold._

_It was so hard to keep her eyes open and all she wanted to do was succumb to the comforting sleep that made her entire body heavy like lead yet weightless at the same time._

_Silence._

_A jolt of red hot pain shot through her body, and she choked out a cry. It wasn’t directly from her wounds, seizing her from the inside. Her weakening heartbeat started to pick up, kicking into overdrive and thundering in her ears. White-hot searing agony shot through her entire being, and with every beat of her heart she felt it spreading and increasing in magnitude._

_She couldn’t comprehend what was happening, only that the pain was so severe that it could render her unconscious–except she was forced to be aware of the torment her body was going through. She could only scream and cry out._

_Her arms and legs lurched and popped, her bone structure changing before her very eyes. She watched as her hands became too large to fit into her gloves, tearing them at the seams and revealing arching claws. Hair follicles grew in prominence and sprouted rapidly, covering her morphing skin with fur. Her layered clothing couldn’t contain her form any longer, and with sharp ripping she was freed from them. The tattered cloth fell from her body, making way for yellow-white fur. Eli’s screams started to not sound like her own, deepening into something frighteningly animalistic._

_She twisted and thrashed and cried for what could have been hours before it began to subside, already trying to stand and stumble forward._

_Everything from before no longer concerned it. Everything was suddenly so crystal clear, so much more simple. Everything was brighter, and it could see farther. It could hear things it could not immediately see: the rustling of some animal life amidst the trees in the distance, the crunching of snow underfoot, a hum of commotion that it couldn’t decipher…_

_It could smell many of things at once, all of which it couldn’t pinpoint, except for a few. It didn’t know why it knew them, just that it did; it associated those scents intuitively with food and protection._

_The gnawing hunger in its stomach was its most prominent driving force. The wound at its shoulder was like an insignificant scratch, forgotten. It was its one goal, its one purpose. It needed food to live, and to do that, it needed to kill._

_It was very hungry._

_Dropping onto all fours, it shot forward, clearing the distance with strong strides that tossed ice and cut through the wind._

_It was no longer her form to move or her mind to control. Eli was now a silent watcher to her own body, watching as it left her behind in the snow. She ran after it, yelling out for it to stop. It didn’t matter how loudly she shouted, though. It never acknowledged her, never slowed its pace._

_She couldn’t catch her breath and her boots felt like lead, but she pushed on, pursuing the thick tracks. Her tears flowed freely as panic overcame her. She could not catch up, could never outrun the beast and regain her consciousness, could never stop it._

_She was always too late._

_When the house peaked up in the distance from behind the shrubs, the place that she had associated with home could not look more foreign to her. It looked eerie against the dimly glowing horizon, dark and forlorn. Lifeless._

_The front door was torn from its hinges, tossed to the side and laying astray in the yard. A dull, foreboding red glow emitted from inside._

_She was closing in, desperately hoping that she had arrived in time._

Please don’t let it be too late. Please, not this time. 

_From inside the house, there was a scream, shrill and terror-stricken. Dread filled her, but Eli pushed on anyway, charging into the house house and darting around the corner. She paused at the frame of the kitchen entry way, frozen._

_Her heart dropped. The beast stood at its full imposing height over her sister, her eyes wide with fear and confusion._

_A guttural growl sounded from the monster and thick saliva drizzled from its snarling maw. As it advanced, Alisa whimpered, pressing her back against the cabinet._

_“Stop,” Eli breathlessly whispered, but as she mouthed the words, no sound came from her. As the monstrosity stepped forward, she moved to do the same, but her entire being was frozen in place. Her boots felt like lead, and regardless of how much she tried to force herself forward, she could not budge._

_She tried to yell out, tried to distract it, but it was useless._

_It lunged at Alisa, teeth bared, and she let out one last scream._

“NO!”

Eli shot up, covered in sweat and disoriented. Her body ached, covered in painful marks and gashes, any remnants of her clothing missing. She was on the floor of a place that she did not immediately recognize, confronted with a shattered kotatsu, torn cushions, and broken glass. Her breathing, heart rate, and her mind raced, the drumming of her mind and chest causing her world to spin.

She tried to move to shield herself from the cold air, but she winced, sharp pain drawing her round eyes to the marks and lacerations on her arms. Her eyes drew to the spatter of red on the floor near her foot. 

_You’re a monster_ , that hissing voice reminded her.

Eli scrambled to put distance between her and the stain, her breath freezing in her lungs. Her eyes darted hastily about, seeking something that would help her sanity find purchase. There was more of it, painted across the walls and what was left of the furniture. Deep scrapes gashes from thick claws mutilated everything, the entire place tossed and torn asunder. 

Was she still dreaming? Eli revisited that night so often in her sleep that she didn’t even know what the real story was anymore; her guilty conscience warped that night into the most twisted, disturbing nightmares. 

She pressed her palm hard against her mouth to try and stop the onslaught of sobs, her body shaking uncontrollably. 

This was a dream. This was all fake. It had to be, for no fate was cruel enough to put her through it again.

_You’ll always be a monster._

What happened? She slowly pieced together the previous night, blurry as it was. She looked around again. This was… this was Nozomi’s apartment. Where was she? Wasn’t she with her?

Eli’s eyes drew to the spatters on the floor, her blood running cold. 

She did this. She was responsible. The worst thing that she could ever imagine happening had come to fruition. 

_Your loved ones will never be safe from you._

She could picture it so clearly; the struggle to fight back or get away, the screams for help, the certain danger and prominent fear Nozomi must have felt… the same as Alisa only a few years prior. 

“No...” Eli croaked out a whisper. “Nozo...mi?” she called quietly. The eerie silence that answered her was unsettlingly still. 

_It’s all your fault._

No one answered her.

Her fingernails dug into her forearms, pressing so hard that her hands trembled. Her fractured mind, carefully and delicately pieced together to form recognizable pieces again, had so easily been shattered another time. The work that Umi had put in to build her up, to refine her foundations, and to invoke confidence in her had all but dissipated in no time at all. Eli didn’t even notice that her nails dug so deeply that blood had started to well up under her fingertips. 

_They’ll find you and lock you up like the monster you are._

“No,” Eli cried, barely getting the word out through sobs. “I don’t want to go back…”

The white walls were closing in on her again, the images of people in white clothes and white masks assaulting her mind.

She deserved it. She deserved to be caged away and cut off from the world. She could only hurt the people she loved, and someone like that didn’t even deserve to live. 

The walls shrank around her, constricting her breathing and suffocating her. This was her personal hell, separated and alone, and it was the only place that suited her and what she was. 

A monster could not make amendments. A monster only killed and destroyed. She was a menace to life and love itself. How did she ever convince herself otherwise? A wolf in sheep’s clothing was still a wolf. 

And a monster parading as a human was still a monster.

* * *

What a mess. 

Maki surveyed her yard with the tallest glass of blood wine from the second story window, squinting and making sure to stay out of the reaches of the morning light that trickled through the glass. 

Numerous figures swarmed the yard, from news outlets littered all up the road within a mile radius to police officers taping off her estate to her vampire workers in long sleeves, sun hats, sunglasses, and face masks cleaning up the absolute wreck that was the tornado of her front yard. The last of the ambulances dispersed with the remaining injured—mostly police officers. No one knew the body count or how many were hurt, but there were casualties. Maki dreaded the paperwork and the amount of time she’d have to spend at the precinct, regardless. This was serious shit. 

Maki thought the whole fucking force was on their way to arrest her and clear out this place, putting everyone in handcuffs, but alarmingly, there seemed to be more pressing issues than her and her “little” gathering. She didn't want to step out to talk to any media or police in case there was now a warrant, though it was hardly any of _her_ fault that all of that escalated to how it did. And surely, it was unlawful in the first place to enforce a curfew for some clause that passed underneath more than a few voter’s tables to reach realization last night. Plus, these officers came with silver bullets and stakes. No one side was going to be left off of the blame for why things turned out the way they did last night. 

Voices murmured from inside her mansion downstairs, echoing up into the sectioned off hallway she had forbade anyone from coming up to without her permission. She let those who wished to stay after last night’s tensions rode itself out take refuge here. Despite the awful fight that transpired out in the yard, this seemed to be the safest place in Japan for WWVS people. 

Maki groaned, treating her headache with another swig of her glass as she turned on her heels sharply and headed to the door down the hall. There were few lights on and even less natural lighting, the hearty, dark wood walls absorbing most sound and light. The muffled voices of people behind her private guest living room door cleared and sharpened when she pulled on the large brass handle and stepped inside. 

Velvet curtains were drawn across an enormous bay window that stretched the length of the entire far wall of the room. There were luxurious couches, chairs, a piano, and a bar for drinks and tea that had an untouched breakfast pastry platter laying across the marble. Only the hot water for tea had been disturbed. 

Several figures stood and were angled tensely about the room, not seeming to notice her reappearance, save for Anju, Erena, and Tsubasa who all either stood or straightened up from their posts at the bar, door, and corner, respectively. 

Maki hugged the darker part of the room, the bar wall. She wasn’t used to seeing her home so well-lit this, but she figured if she was also a depressed daywalker in a dark room, she’d probably want a little sunlight too. She held out her wine glass to Erena, and she took it reflexively and made her way behind the bar with Anju.

She looked around and sighed. There were some important people in this room. Sonoda Umi, who was seated with her back bent, an elbow on her knee, and a phone pressed to her ear, had been present during all of this and Maki could only _dream_ of what the headache would be like dealing with her and her vocal family. 

On top of that, the Minami daughter was sitting across from Umi coddling a teacup as she looked down to the coffee table wordlessly, her expression blanketed in deep thought and a borrowed robe covering her shoulders. 

Maki heaved a tired sigh and strolled in. It was crucial that they used each other to level themselves out of this mess. Prideful as Maki was, she knew an opportunity to fix things when she saw it. There was no opening like any other to have these different people come together and figure things out. To make complicated matters thankfully much easier, it seemed as though Umi and Kotori had already been acquainted. The last thing they needed in this mess was an important witch and an equally as important werewolf having at it with each other when a squad of police officers had just thrown a huge wrench into their lives. 

Two other people were there. Sonoda’s pack mate, Kousaka Honoka, sat on the coffee table angled towards Umi. And then of course, Yazawa Nico was seated next to Kotori, slumped at the shoulders as she nestled an intense hangover, bandages at her neck that didn't look inconspicuous at all. 

Nico could barely meet her eyes without shoving her red face into her palm, embarrassed about how they had got caught up last night before everything went to shit. Maki really didn't want to talk about it, either. Nico ended up being a bit of a pillow princess. Maki went ahead and gave her the benefit of the doubt due to how absolutely hammered drunk she was, but she supposed she could have seen herself having more fun if Nico wasn't completely and utterly desperate to have _anyone_ between her legs.

Everyone looked like they lost at least three days of sleep. 

Maki stopped at the bar and looked down at the breakfast platter as she heard a frustrated sigh from Umi. 

“No answers. Straight to voicemail.”

“None of you like danishes?” Maki said in a light tone in contrast to Umi’s tense and even words. 

There was no immediate response at the attempt to dispel the tension in the room. That would be the last time Maki tried that.

Thankfully, Honoka stirred and got up, being the first to take interest in the pastries. “It _is_ a lot harder to think with an empty stomach,” she mumbled unenthusiastically, identifying and picking up the largest one. “You should eat something too, Umi-chan...”

Umi remained gravely still, her eyes burning into the table in front of her. 

Tsubasa stepped next to Honoka and put up a hand wordlessly as Erena started to help make more tea, taking care of the cup she poured as she measured some tea leaves into a strainer, dropped it in, and moved on to make another cup. Honoka sorted out four plates of pastries after offering Erena a weak smile. 

Nico sat up with a sigh, looking around the room sluggishly before her crimson eyes widened. “I’ll try to get ahold of Nozomi,” she muttered, causing Umi to slide her emotionless, tired gaze towards her. She sat with her chin to her palm, her phone loosely sitting in her other hand at her lap as she awaited a new development. 

Nico clumsily patted her pockets and rifled through her bag before fishing out her phone, navigating the display after fumbling to turn the brightness down, cursing underneath her breath as she scrolled through her emails. “Oh…”

“What is it, Nico-chan?” Kotori peeked up leaned over a bit as she picked up her teacup carefully. 

“Nozomi emailed me last night saying she was leaving the party with her girlfriend to go home. So there’s probably nothing to worry about, right? See, I’ll even call her now.”

Maki rolled her eyes. How could she gloss over something important like that?

Honoka came around with a tray of plates and cups of tea. She set it on the coffee table and began to sort out plates as Nico sat on the other side of a constant drone of dialing rings from her phone. Kotori was the only one to voice her appreciation towards the gesture. 

“Hey, Minami-san?” Honoka started in a soft voice as she crouched next to the table, arms wrapping around her bent legs as she balanced on the balls of her feet. 

Kotori smiled politely. “Yes?” 

“I’ve met you before, right? On the night me, Eli-chan, Rin-chan, and Umi-chan were transformed and we spooked you.”

“Ah…” Kotori gave a quick look to Umi, who was focused on Nico. “Y-you have a good memory, Kousaka-san.”

“I remembered your scent from then and at the cafe and put it together just now. Umi-chan smells a lot like those candles you gave her lately, you know?”

“Is that so…”

“Ugh…” Nico hung up her phone and stared at the screen. “Usually she picks up.”

Umi sighed and went to pinch the skin of her nose in frustration, bringing both of her hands up to run her eyes. “This is a disaster. I don't even know where to start. I told my father everything was under control. What are we going to do now?”

Maki crossed her arms and shrugged her shoulders. “Everyone in the whole damn country is asking that same question right now. Should we check for updates?”

“No. It’s just the same footage across all of the news channels. We have to move forward. Sitting around idly while we get useless reports of the streets in chaos won’t change anything,” Umi returned matter-of-factly. “My priority right now is finding Rin, Eli, Koizumi-san and Toujou-san.”

“Like I said, I scented Rin-chan as a bobcat last night. Maybe if we find her, we find Hanayo-chan,” Honoka offered, looking around the table at all of them briefly. 

“We follow her trail, then.” Umi agreed.

At that, Maki figured she should offer her services. There seemed to be no working with Umi until she had her way. “I’ll come with you. Maybe you can use a medic out in the field.” While she wasn’t anywhere near an expert like her parents were, she still practiced enough to feel confident in giving her aid. 

“I’d like to come as well,” Kotori added weakly.

“Are you sure you’re alright to be walking around?” Nico inquired as though she already knew the answer she wanted, her voice flat.

Kotori gave her friend a soft smile. “I’ll feel a lot better about everything if you’re there, Nico-chan.”

Nico huffed and rolled her eyes. “You’re as bad of a guilt-tripper as Nozomi. You don’t need to ask me to tag along, I want to find her, too. And everyone else, I guess.”

“Then it’s settled.” Umi said as she rose in confidence, a decision finally made.

“Right, right. All of your changes of clothes should be ready by now,” Maki stated. “You can pay me back by getting all of your shit together and helping me figure out how the hell we’re going to reverse all of this nonsense.”

Umi scoffed. “I would have never thought that going back to how everything was before could be considered an improvement, but I agree.”

Maki turned to Anju, Erena, and Tsubasa, all three of them looking to her attentively. “Oversee repairs here. Make sure the media doesn’t get close and watch all of our new guests. And if you think something comes up that’s going to give me a headache, could you try to deal with it first before calling me? I trust your judgement.”

“Yes, Nishikino-sama,” Tsubasa answered for them and all three of them bowed in acknowledgement before exiting the room.

The rest of them watched as the three disappeared behind the massive double doors. Not too soon after, they all dispersed to find wash rooms to freshen up. Maki shifted onto the couch to wait, laying on her back and staring up at the elaborate ceiling with its equally ornate chandelier and mentally running through all of the past events again. She sighed, shielding her eyes with her forearm and enjoying what felt like the only moment of solitude she would be able to get for a while. 

She heard shuffling and footsteps before she saw anyone, picking out more than a few from the sound of it. Maki sat up and turned to the approaching group, seeing that everyone was now present, and in more ways than one too. They looked a little more like themselves, or what she pictured would be their ideal selves in any case. Maki rose, putting a hand on her hip, and directing her attention to the smallest wolf. “So, Kousaka Honoka-san, right? Take us to where you first found the trail.”

“Right,” Honoka briefly responded. The call to action seemed to invigorate Honoka’s movements, and she nodded briskly and made a beeline towards the door, a new purpose in her step. The rest followed with varying levels of enthusiasm, but the fact that they had begun the first step after debriefing and planning all morning left them all with a new energy.

It didn’t take long for Honoka find a starting point. Maki let them go ahead and follow the trail outside as her servants remaining within her home provided her with the appropriate materials to keep the bothersome sun off of her skin. She pulled on gloves, placed a pair of sunglasses on her nose, slid a hat over her head, and covered her face with a white medical mask. When she headed out to join the rest of them, they were already gathered at the conjoining path that ran parallel to the tall windows of the main dining room of the first floor and the ornate walking garden.

A glance up towards the third story revealed a shattered window, trickling the second story roof and the ground in front of them with glass. A few of the pieces even landed in the four-tier fountain, and a few droplets of blood painted one of the edges of the outlying stone basin.

“It’s impressive that she was able to scale down that high and still run off. With little injury, to add,” Maki commented. 

Nico turned to her and was about to reply, but when she saw her, she flinched before letting out a loud, one beat laugh. “What the fuck are you _wearing?”_ She snorted, grinning cheekily and trying to hold in laughter. 

Maki stared at her with a deadpan expression that would be impossible to decipher from under her protection. Now that she was really sobering up, Nico was proving to be a problem. “I didn’t _stop_ being a fucking vampire. Don’t tell me you’re _that_ dense.” 

Nico scowled at that, narrowing her red eyes at her. “Yeah, well, you look fucking stupid.”

Maki’s irritation with her was quickly spiking into dangerous levels. “These sunglasses are easily worth three months of your rent,” she pointed out flatly. 

“That’s nothing to you, so I’m sure you wouldn't mind if I knocked them off your face and they broke,” Nico sneered. 

Now her opinion of her was shifting from neutral to distasteful. “It would actually bring me _joy_ to see you try,” she challenged, moving towards her with purpose. Nico turned full on to her as well, surfacing her wand from her pocket while her eyes were locked to hers. 

“U-umm, let’s please dispute that later!” Kotori interrupted, stepping forward as well. “People are hurt and missing… we should get to the bottom of all of this. Preferably in one piece…”

Maki huffed. So she realized that she wasn’t _really_ over how things played out between her and Nico last night. It didn’t seem like Nico was, either, but the fact that the damn witch really had no right to be irritated at her made matters unnecessarily annoying. Maki didn’t even come _once_ , so was there anything to justify Nico being such a bitch to her? 

Was she mad about the bites, maybe? Maki highly doubted it. She didn’t seem so opposed to them when she was literally moaning and begging her to keep biting her. She had never been bitten herself, but from what she had learned, the experience was insurmountably pleasurable, even if the initial prick was quite a nuisance. And judging by Nico’s behavior, she could certainly attest to that. 

So, it still remained a mystery to her, one that Maki really wanted to get to the bottom of before she became too much to handle. 

Nico crossed her arms and quickly turned away, mumbling, “Whatever.” Maki looked to Kotori for a moment before her attention returned to the scene before them. Honoka and Umi continued on as if nothing had just transpired, and rightfully so, too. Those two seemed to have very little energy to spend on bullshit that wasn’t theirs, since they had so much to deal with already. 

“Do you have it, Umi-chan?” Honoka asked her, turning to her with her hands threaded together. 

Umi’s gaze was distant but focused. She gave her a small nod. “Yes. It seems like she was headed towards the treeline. Let’s follow it right away.”

“Okay, that sounds fun and all, and as much as I’d love to be out in the sunlight, I’m probably going to sit this one out,” Maki stated. “And I think the humans might just slow you down anyway, right?”

“What do you recommend, then?” Umi asked rather emptily, looking towards Maki pointedly. It almost seemed to her that Umi was annoyed that they even had to discuss this at all. Maybe she didn’t even care if they followed or not. It almost felt like Umi was challenging her, but she couldn't be certain. 

Maki held in a scoff. The amount of times that she would offer her help to a werewolf were becoming extremely numbered. “Go on ahead and call if you find anything. Otherwise, I’m getting into my car since our next stop is Yazawa’s friend’s place anyway, right?” 

Umi looked slowly between her and Nico, expression relatively unchanging minus her brows twitching slightly. “Alright. Honoka and I will go on ahead,” she declared with resolution. 

“Umi-chan?” Honoka asked softly, surprising a few of them in attendance. 

Umi looked to her wordlessly, waiting for her to say something. But Honoka didn’t follow up right away, her eyes dropping to the ground and her shoulders sagging. Umi’s jaw tightened, obviously impatient with Honoka’s reluctance to continue. “Honoka, we don’t have a lot of time,” she pressed.

“Rin-chan… we found her two years ago after Halloween… and she didn’t remember anything,” Honoka started sadly. “We made it her birthday…” 

Though it was only for an isolated amount of time, the emotion she had been pushing away returned to Umi. There was a crushing pain in her eyes, and Maki knew she had to be mentally berating herself for what might have been the hundredth time that morning. 

No one else knew what to do or say to that information other than look on in a somber silence, realizing the significance of such a day even if they didn’t have the full story. 

Maki was starting to be personally affected by the constant sadness. She meant to continue to dissociate from their struggle so that she could return to how things were before as quickly as possible, at the very least. They _did_ all have, ultimately, a common interest. But they were making it increasingly difficult for Maki to stay in her own lane. They hadn’t specifically asked her to help, after all, and maybe they didn’t want her to. She wouldn’t have been upset if they told her to fuck off, either. 

“We’ll find her before the first of the month,” Umi simply declared, squeezing her fist at her side. An unfazed determination returned to her expression, and Honoka nodded weakly at her. 

They all parted their separate ways without much more exchange. After that moment passed, Maki realized that she was still, unfortunately, stuck with Nico. At least with Kotori there, Nico seemed to cool off a bit. As she looked over the both of their expressions, she could see their turning thoughts and worries clearly.

The three of them headed back, Maki leading the way as she went to the back of the house to access the garage. She swiped a pair of keys off the wall and came up to one of the many luxury vehicles parked in the large space. 

“Different cars for different moods of the day or what? How unnecessary,” Nico muttered, which Maki elected to ignore. She was hardly in the mood to argue much of anything right now. 

They all took a seat in the car, the silence settling between them tense and contemplative. Maki went and busied herself with her smartphone, unable to escape the news of the state of the country. 

She looked at her messages and saw that her parents planned on returning from their business trip immediately to help straighten things up. They held an immense amount of trust for her when she ensured them that she had a guise of control over the situation last night and weren't excessively worried. She was holding down the fort to the best of her ability, saving her the stress of getting her phone blown up by her mother over the course of her 16 something hour flight. She kept scrolling through the messages. Ah, actually. All flights coming and going through Japan were stopped until further notice. They knew a private pilot that could still get them into the country but it would take that much longer. It could be more than 20 hours, they reported. 

Maki happened across most of the news of the damage in the country money wise. Japanese company stocks were dropping off the market and entire businesses were halted as the wave of unrest catalyzed into one massive, chaotic protest. It even seemed as though many similar protests had risen up across the entire world calling for the immediate and unreasonable dismissal of all WWVS people. Maki couldn't fathom how this momentum was so big. 

How could cancelling one holiday be the tipping point of the boiling pot of tensions and aggression between humans and everyone else? But was it really just a law that banned Halloween that was the source of the problem? It was almost poetic, how everything fell to ruins. Like everything so carefully led up to this point. 

At this point, it was unclear of who was doing the damage and who was the target—but what was clear was that something had to change and it had to be soon or else the ugly face of an economic depression was on the horizon. Emergency resources were spread dangerously thin and the government seemed content to let everything ride itself out with how little had been heard from any official. Maki couldn't fathom what there was much that her, a couple of werewolves, and a couple of witches could do. 

Maki had numerous missed calls from her hospital. She was cleaning up a war on one front and didn't want to begin to imagine what it was like on that end. The hospital was well over staffed anyway and she trusted her administration to keep everything running smoothly. 

“Nishikino-san…?”

Maki perked up from her phone and avoided looking into her rear view mirror by turning around in her seat and glancing at Kotori. 

“I haven't had the chance to thank you for your hospitality. The clothes, the shelter, food, and transportation. And they won't say it now, but Nico-chan, Sonoda-san, and Kousaka-san feel just as grateful, I’m sure.”

A corner of Maki’s mouth turned down and she shrugged one shoulder, allowing herself to feel like she deserved a pat on the back for what she was doing. Maybe she did after all. 

Nico looked up from her phone upon hearing her name. “I’m right here, you know.”

Kotori pretended to not hear her. “So, please take care of us. Or at least until we’re able to pay you back for your kindness.”

Easily, Kotori was skyrocketing to her favorite of this curious bunch of girls. Maki couldn't hold anything against someone that was conscientious like that. She turned back to the front and sighed. “It’d be cruel for me to just ignore everything that’s going on here, so I’ve got to do something.”

“Modesty doesn't suit you,” Nico murmured. 

Maki rolled her eyes hard. “I guess reciprocating doesn't suit you either, does it?” She bit back, much to Nico’s chagrin. 

A knock on the back window caused everyone in the car to jump. The back door was tugged open and Honoka climbed inside, her expression crestfallen as Umi came and sat down next to her. 

“No luck?” Kotori asked hesitantly.

Umi shook her head stoically. “Lost the trail.”

“Even with my nose… I don't understand,” Honoka muttered. 

“I know Rin. I know she’ll avoid more populated areas,” Umi stated, her eyes distant. “If she decided to run when things went awry, then I think she will stay out there until she thinks it’s safe to come back. As long as she stays away from all of this chaos, I know she will be fine.” She paused, biting her lip. “As long as this doesn't stretch out and she doesn't feel safe enough to leave her form…”

Maki felt like she was the only one who didn't know what Umi was referring to. She knew very little about wereanimals, so she was curious. “She can just simply live off the land until this is all through with, right?” she asked, looking into her rear view mirror (but purposely avoiding her own eyes). Maki imagined that that was the case, anyway. It seemed pretty easy, actually. She wouldn't have minded disappearing from all of this and letting everything take its course. 

“Well, yes,” Umi answered, meeting Maki’s eyes in the mirror. “But it's not good for a wereanimal to remain in any of their forms for too long, and I fear Rin will…”

Umi trailed off, perhaps succumbing to the reality that something bad could happen to Rin in the time that it took them to straighten things up. Maki looked to Honoka in the mirror next, prompting Honoka to finish Umi’s thought by raising her brows expectantly at her. 

She seemed to pick up on the cue, but she was also reluctant to answer right away. “She can forget about being human again and not change back,” Honoka mumbled, her eyes falling to her lap.

“Again” was a telling choice of a word. So it had happened before. It made her realize that she was very much involved with a group of the most interesting girls with the most complicated issues. 

Maki decided to quit wondering upon it though, knowing they had better things to do. She rolled out a long sigh. “Let’s get moving. We don't have time to sit around and wallow in failure.”

“Agreed,” Nico begrudgingly said. 

With that, Maki pressed the button on her dash that made the car roar to life and pulled out of the driveway and onto the road.


	18. Case and Point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp here's the right chapter 18 hahaha :eyes: anyway, there's some major Angst™ in this one. remember to comment, hit the kudos, share, n most importantly, enjoy!

“You’re truly fucking awful with directions!” Maki shouted, her shoulders tense as she gripped the steering wheel to death. It was hard enough dodging crazy people running out into the streets and people trying to take out her mirrors with improvised melee weapons. They weren’t exaggerating on the news when they said that the streets had fallen into complete chaos.

Nico hit the dashboard repeatedly as she pointed at the next light. “I give you plenty of warning, you’re just not fucking listening! That’s the turn there, make a right and step on it!”

With a groan, Maki approached the intersection, speeding past cars parked in the middle of the road and other obstructions. She took the corner hard, a collective gasp of shock and fear sounding from every person in the car. Nico, who wasn’t wearing her seatbelt, very nearly tumbled into Maki’s lap from the front passenger’s seat.

Nico gaped and scrambled to get back in her seat. “W-watch out! Are you trying to kill us all!?”

“You’re the only one who doesn’t have her seatbelt on!” Maki sneered. 

In the back seat, Umi’s knuckles were bone white from clutching onto the handle above her, her lips curled into a deep frown. Honoka, seated between her and Kotori, had an unhealthy shade at her cheeks as she held a hand tight over her mouth and gagged back her car sickness. Kotori gripped a gem in her hand, chanting something that sounded like a different language under her breath, her words hiking up an octave whenever Maki made a particularly dangerous maneuver. Everyone would surely have some sort of bruising from knocking into each other, the doors, and even the ceiling.

“There! Stop there! That’s it right there!” Nico jumped forward from her chair, shoving a finger into the front windshield and jabbing it repeatedly to accent her point.

The car came to a screeching, haphazard halt in front of a modest apartment building, all of the doors flying open as everyone stumbled out in short-lived relief. They quickly gathered themselves and crossed the street with Nico in the lead and with Honoka taking the rear. Nico took the stairs and dashed across the open-air walkway to the last door on the end.

The wild, intense car ride quickly felt as if it had turned into a distant memory when they all approached Nozomi’s apartment. Maki already felt a certain heaviness in the air, sobering her of any lingering emotions she had from the stressful, high-energy race to get there. She could tell that the others very much felt the same way. The entire mood had shifted so effortlessly, bringing back the uncertainty of what they were going to find. 

Maki followed behind the group a little slower, falling behind Kotori. The scent of blood quickly hit her senses. Everyone paused where they were near the door, which was ajar, and Maki assumed they had found something that she would be the last to discover. When she approached, she looked down to the floor, eyes widening as she noticed the trickling trail of red leading away from the apartment. Maki looked back to the others, a mix of shock and disbelief on all of their faces. 

They were all frozen then for a moment before Nico took the first step forward, moving into the doorway cautiously. The walls were covered in claw marks, and what remained of the kotatsu was scattered and broken across the living room. Ornaments on the walls and counter were thrown astray, the pieces strewn about. There were huge dents in the floor that couldn’t have been caused by human bodies. It looked like large figures could have been shoving things (or one another) against the surfaces of the room. The walls were not free of the same treatment either. And of course there was more blood about the scene, tossed against the walls and floor boards, painting an awful struggle. 

Maki took off her sunglasses, fitted them above the brim of her hat, and pulled her face mask down, frowning. She hadn’t picked it up before, but there was a faint sniffling coming from within the building. She looked to Umi, who was one of two other people there who could have picked it up from where they were, both of the humans still absorbing the deathly still scene before them.

As Nico was stunned with the sight of claw marks and the initial wreck that was Nozomi’s apartment, Umi shouldered past, not even bothering to remove her shoes as she cleared the clutter of destroyed furniture and split towards the bedroom. Honoka trembled where she stood before following hesitantly after a beat later.

Gravely, Kotori and Nico stepped in, a low whistle sounding from Maki as she surveyed the brunt of the damage. Kotori and Nico could hear the sniffling now, their faces pale in fear of what was to come as they looked to each other and finally came to the doorway of the bedroom.

Maki could hazard a guess as of what they were going to see. She briefly wondered if this would be the time for her to stop Nico from possibly seeing the body of her friend. Something told her Kotori didn’t need that sort of hand-holding. But in the end, she figured that she shouldn’t interfere at all.

They crowded into the room, Umi crouched before a naked blonde woman who had backed herself into a corner. She was covered in scratches, cuts, and bruises, making Maki curious. Was this Nozomi? She looked like hell, and her current state gave her no immediate answers. In fact, she seemed to further complicate any narrative she could hazard at with just a glance. 

She looked to Honoka just then, who stood with her hands balled tightly at her sides, tears beginning to stream down her face. It looked like just the sights alone was enough to pull tears for her. Maki frowned, forcing her eyes to slide past Honoka. 

A long moment passed as Maki, Kotori, and Nico inspected the room. It was just as destroyed as the front room but there was significantly less blood. There was no one else there.

She heard Nico’s breath pick up and just as Maki thought she might be crying too, when she looked to her, she was surprised to see her seething with anger. The prick of tears at the corners of her fiery eyes were hardly grieving, her bottom lip shaking. 

“What did you do?” Nico asked in a dangerously low, quivering tone, reaching for her wand at her side.

The woman made no move to acknowledge any of them. In fact, it didn’t seem like she was aware that they were there at all. Umi reached forward carefully but decided against it last moment, withdrawing her hand. “Eli?” she started instead, soft and even. 

Nico’s breath started sputtering as she vibrated with simmering rage, the tears spilling over down her face. “WHAT DID YOU FUCKING DO, YOU BITCH?!” she shrieked, her wand raising and pointing straight at her with an angry, righteous vigor. 

Umi turned over her shoulder, eyes widening as she stood and put her body in between Nico and Eli without a moment’s hesitation. Her expression turned very cold, brows sitting low and a deep frown at her lips. “There’s no possible way that Eli did this. There’s just no way,” she said tensely but evenly. Maki knew she was boiling underneath all of this just as much as Nico was. 

“Look at this mess! How can you be so fucking stupid?! What happened here is obvious!” Nico continued to yell, her voice breaking as she took another step forward with her wand pointed at her and trembling. 

Honoka stepped in front of Umi, sniffling and red in the face as tears streamed down her face. “It’s not obvious! Eli couldn't have done this,” she managed, the conviction in her voice sure and unshakable. 

“Stay away,” Eli uttered so quietly that it was barely audible. Her voice lacked presence, but Umi and Honoka turned to her so quickly, one might have thought that she had just yelled. 

“Eli… what happened?” Umi asked, shifting back slowly into a crouch. 

Honoka turned back around to shield Eli from Nico, who was still aiming her wand at them. 

Suddenly, Eli swung out and nearly mauled Umi, and had she not ducked back it definitely would have connected. “STAY AWAY!” She shouted, her voice broken and raw. Everything about her appearance was a wreck; her long, disheveled blonde hair fell around her shoulders and clung to her forehead, her undilated eyes were wild and puffy, and her cheeks were tear-stained. She reminded Maki of a frightened, caged animal. What qualities that she had in the past that made her _human_ were currently absent. “I can’t… you can’t be here! I-I’ll hurt you,” she cried, her eyes darting around but not focusing on anything. “She’s… I don’t… I don’t want to go back… she...” Eli couldn’t continue on, breaking down into sobs. “I’m... sorry…” she whispered brokenly. “I’m sorry…”

Nico stepped forward with intention, possessed by a hatred that only spawned from the loss of someone important. “I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!” She screamed and within an instant, Maki jumped forward and took one of her arms, pulling her back as Kotori skillfully countered the spell Nico conjured from her wand, sending it flying across the room and smacking against the wall with a loud crack, shattering the wall on contact. 

“Let me go! Fucking let me go! She hurt her—she did and I’ll fucking _kill_ her!”

“For fuck’s sake, are you really going to believe an unstable naked woman right now?!” Maki interrupted, yanking up on Nico’s arm and nearly taking her off of the ground. “She’s not a reliable source of information at the moment, and you’re jumping to conclusions that are only making things worse. I don’t know about you, but I don’t see a body, so let’s slow down here!"

Nico continued to seethe, thrashing against her, the tears now that of frustration running down her cheeks. She began to wear herself out as Maki easily held her in place. She soon sagged in her grip and bowed her head, her shoulders shaking and her hands balled into tight fists. 

No one affirmed or denied her statement, and Maki glanced about the occupants of the room. Honoka stood with her hands over her mouth, crying quietly into her hands. Kotori’s eyes were on the ground, her expression somber. Umi’s jaw was tight as she looked over Eli again and again, as if she would find answers just by staring a little longer. Eli had folded in on herself again, burying her face in her arms and knees.

Maki didn’t want to pretend like she didn’t have a heart to empathize with their situation, by any means. It was tragic what had occurred here. But to find out exactly _what_ it was that happened, she had to take some initiative. It would be detrimental for her to try and tell everyone to suck it up so they could get to the bottom of this. And _someone_ had to. “How exhausting,” she mumbled, letting Nico go slowly. Nico collapsed onto the floor onto her knees, slumped over as she became still. She was crying, too, albeit the circumstances kept her quiet. 

Maki regarded everyone around the room for a moment longer before she returned her attention to the trashed apartment. _Anything_ was better than being in that room in that moment, and she felt less suffocated when she exited to the main room. She removed a glove and ran her hand along one of the spatter marks on the wall. It was there long enough to dry and crust, so it hadn’t happened recently. If she had to take a guess, she would argue that it was from the previous night. 

Maki licked a thumb before running it along the mess, raising it to her nose. The thought of tasting something that spent a night on a middle-class apartment wall was enough to make her gag, but it had its perks. She could taste the differences between human blood and wereanimal blood pretty easily. Maki chanced a look towards the bedroom to see if anyone was watching her, but none of them had made any appearance yet. Thankfully. She highly doubted they were in a position to reserve judgement against her anyway, even if they _were_ paying attention. 

So, she swallowed her pride and tried it, brows furrowing. She was able to categorize it right away. So, it was definitely blood from a wereanimal. She would have drawn as much from the fact that Eli was sporting quite a few injuries. 

She had consumed enough human blood to know its characteristics. So her sensitive nose was able to pick up human traces somewhere within the room, but its presence paled in comparison to the wolf blood. She navigated elsewhere to the trail near the entrance, inspecting it. Maki tried to pick the least gross spot she could find, hating the idea of eating off of the _floor_ far more than the wall. She kept it in mind that only she was able to do this, though, and that was enough to let her gingerly pick up a smidge of red. She sighed and brought it up to her lips, tasting that as well. 

It was distinct from the blood before, but it also belonged to a wereanimal. “Well, that makes things interesting,” she said mostly to herself, standing up and calling out. “I don’t think a human alone could put up this much of a fight against a werewolf,” Maki began thoughtfully. “Actually, I think I’ll be as confident as to say that the blood belongs to more than one wolf.” 

Honoka was the first to exit the bedroom and return to the front, wiping the tears from her eyes and sniffling. “How is that possible?” she asked softly, drying her nose on her sleeve and surveying the scene. 

At this point in time, Kotori also entered the main room with an arm around Nico next to her. She was looking down to the floor dazedly. 

Maki noticed something on the floor and moved into the room again to flip a tousled cushion, spotting a few stray white tablets on the floor. Her brow rose, and she knelt down to pick one of them up, inspecting its shape. There were a few things it could be, but there must have been a bottle somewhere. 

Flipping more broken pieces and moving them aside, she chanced upon the object of her inquiry, an orange prescription container with a white label. She knelt down and picked it up, reading the contents of the bottle. 

They were some sort of drug. The name of the brand itself was foreign to her, seeming as it was nothing that she had encountered while studying medicine, which was rare. So, it was extremely uncommon at best. 

“Does your friend take medication for anything?” Maki asked Nico after a prolonged moment of silence. It was a blunt way—and honestly rude way—to ask, since that stuff tended to be largely personal. However, they couldn’t maintain that sort of confidentiality if they were trying to find a missing person.

There was pause as Nico came over and looked down at what she was inspecting, skeptical. She sniffed before leaning back and wiping her face. “Why do you care?”

Even after what had just transpired, Nico still had that defiant reaction. “Look, do you want to find her or not? It can help make sense of something. We can’t be holding back information here.” Maki turned the emptied container in her hand, looking up at her. 

Nico kissed her teeth and looked away, crossing her arms. “She needs medication to control her powers.”

“Powers?” Maki pressed, narrowing her eyes curiously. Honoka didn’t seem to pay any mind to them, engulfed in her own investigation. 

“She can see into the future,” Nico explained. “Sounds cool until you realize that she can't control it on her own. She takes that shit to _stop_ seeing into the future—to stop seeing anything she doesn't want to see. Her visions could quickly spin out of control, so she dopes up on that stuff to help. That and it helps with the paranoia and anxiety she gets with it. It’s top of the line, powerful, fast acting, and not to mention experimental.”

Interesting. Maki hummed noncommittally. She wasn’t aware that humans could have abilities like that. “Well, they’re not exactly helping her here on the floor.”

“You’re fucking telling me,” she snapped back with a hint of annoyance and sighed in irritation. “Nozomi, if you can see me, I’m coming for you…”

“So what happens if she goes long enough without them? She can’t exactly ‘dope up’ on something she left on her apartment floor, intentional or not.”

Nico didn't respond immediately. Her crossed arms tightened around her and her face fell into discomfort, her brows knitting into a furrow. “Nothing good happens, that's for sure. I’ve never seen her like that, but from what she’s told me…” she trailed off and swallowed hard, her head shaking slightly as she recollected her bearings. “We just have to find her. We should bring those with us.”

Honoka continued with her own investigation, sniffing around. The more she explored, the slower and more deliberate her movement got before she froze completely. 

Maki tilted her head, looking expectantly at her. “Hey? Find anything?”

Honoka didn’t respond to her right away, her back turned to her. “It’s… no, there has to be another explanation…”

“Care to fill us in?” Maki pressed again. 

“I didn’t notice before now… some of these claw marks, and the fur… it smells faintly like cinnamon. It’s the scent that Tsuruya’s pack has...”

Maki squinted her eyes, this revealed bit of information not meaning anything to her. So some sort of rival werewolf pack was responsible for this? “So that means…?”

“We go after them to find Nozomi-chan,” Honoka explained, her eyes hardening in determination.

At that, Nico looked up, her brows furrowed and her eyes puffy and red. “You think Nozomi is alive?”

“Seems like there's a chance.” Maki shrugged, still surveying the apartment for any more clues. “Why would they be responsible for this, though? Do wolf rivalries run deep around here?” She looked to Honoka for her answer, feeling like she was asking some pretty superficial questions. Maki knew absolutely nothing about the werewolf world, though, since this was the first time that she had really known any. If she was to give the best input, then she needed the whole picture. 

“Tsuruya… I don't know why she would do something like this, but she doesn't like us at all. She thinks we’re weak and even though we all want equal rights for werewolves, she's dangerous and willing to do dirty things to get what she wants,” Honoka said as she paced the room, her arms crossing over her chest. “But even that's not a reason! That doesn't mean she should do this to Eli-chan or Nozomi-chan or anyone. And now I’m starting to think they did something to Rin-chan and Hanayo-chan, too…” 

Honoka sighed and wiped her eyes and nose before returning her arms to cross at her chest. “I think that even if we find out what happened here and we find everyone safe, the damage has been done… that sort of situation has Tsuruya’s stink all over it… and if more than one wolf was here, then it was a set-up. There’s no other explanation,” she murmured, her expression hurt as she uncomfortably rubbed her forearms like it had suddenly gotten cold. “That still doesn't explain how it was they knew that this would hit Eli-chan hard. Only me, Umi-chan, and Rin-chan knew about—”

Honoka froze where she stood, her eyes widening. She paled as she looked between everyone in the room, her expression turning fearful. “Rin-chan... I have an idea of where to start! If we go down to—”

“No,” a voice interrupted softly but firmly from the other side of the room and everyone’s attention snapped to the hallway that lead towards the bedroom. Umi stood with a blank, unreadable expression and an arm around Eli, who was now had on loose fitting clothes. Her blue eyes were distant and unseeing. “No one is going anywhere.”

“What?!” Honoka turned to Umi, eyes wide. “Umi-chan, I think I’m onto something! I just need to—”

“I SAID NO!” 

The whole room flinched at the outburst except for Eli.

Seeing Umi lose her cool like that when she had taken everything until now stone-faced was jarring. Maki wasn’t the only person in the room bothered by it. A tense, suffocatingly still moment passed as Umi looked down, her bangs covering her eyes.

“Too much has happened. It’s dangerous and there is no _way_ I’m letting any of you get any more involved in this than you already are. We’re all going to Nishikino-san’s and then I’m going to get to the bottom of this when I know you're all safe.”

“Umi-chan… you said… you said we have to stand together,” Honoka reminded her softly, her voice cracking a little. 

“But we’re not together. We’re not all here and we’re not all the same people we were when that promise was made. It no longer applies. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt anymore,” she replied with a tenseness in her voice that painted her struggle to maintain face even if it came off as rude. She refused to make eye contact with anyone. 

The disappointment and pain on Honoka’s face was heart-wrenching, and from the short time that she had known her, Maki knew that this had to be out of character for her. It bothered her, in addition to Umi’s stubbornness. Maki could see why she was essentially caging Honoka away, but something told her that that wasn’t the right thing to do. Regardless, she had zero say in the entire situation, resigning to the fact that she was an onlooker to the situation. 

Their _family_ situation, that is. She wanted to pursue this on her own volition, and when some Sonoda tried to tell her she couldn’t do just that, then she had a problem with it. “Should I remind you that the cops came to _my_ place and tried to trash _my_ party?” Maki pointed out, irritated. “Oh, I’m involved alright. You think you’ve got it so bad that you have to handle it yourself. But you know what? Even after all the shit that’s come down around us, wereanimals can hide in plain sight and live under the noses of humans. Do you think no one notices when _vampires_ have to go outside? Even at night, people know because of the fangs. Which aren’t retractable, by the way, contrary to popular belief. It’s not just your fight, and I’m not letting wereanimals do it for me either.”

Umi dragged her eyes up to meet her own, her expression cold and even. “We all have problems. You’re welcome to go off and do as you’d like. Us werewolves aren't _immortal_ like you.”

Maki snorted. So, she was one of those people that believed that jargon? She decided to play along with it. “Compared to your lifespan and fragility, I bet _any_ vampire looks immortal to you, huh? So what? You think that I’m going to go out into the street flailing around fighting the entire country because I can’t die?” The only time that wasn’t true was if her heart was destroyed, but Umi didn’t need to know that. While they aged very slowly, vampires didn’t live forever. Pureblood vampires lived much longer than turned ones, and because of their natural regenerative abilities, injury was not a common cause of death. 

Being killed by hunters was, though. Luckily, they lived in a time where that was outlawed in most countries. On paper, anyway.

“I’m not stupid,” Maki continued pointedly. “I recognize when I need allies, a sentiment you seem to currently be lacking.”

Umi didn't say anything as she digested her words. She sighed and looked away, swiftly changing the subject. “We need to get Eli out of here. Once we get her to talk a little more, we’ll figure out what to do,” she said as she walked with Eli at her arm through the apartment. Honoka remained still as Umi walked past her. ”I’ll search the perimeter of the apartment building for anything supplementary and we’ll be on our way.” 

Maki wasn’t going to further aggravate the situation since Umi wasn’t so receptive of that, figuring she was wasting her energy anyway. 

Kotori was the first to follow Umi out, her steps timid over the mess. Maki realized she hadn’t said anything the entire time she had been here. Honoka also headed towards the door, her movement lethargic and unanimated. 

Maki looked to Nico, frowning. “So you never told me, and you don’t seem to be _friendly_ with the bunch, judging by the fact that you immediately went to the prospect of murdering that girl. Do you care about the wolves or are you just here for the ride because they’re tied up with your friend?” It was a brutal way to put it, but she didn’t feel like sugar coating her words anymore. 

A ragged, tired sigh sounded from Nico. She looked after everyone leaving, her lips set into a frown. “If she really did hurt Nozomi, then I need to be there to kick her ass. I don't think Sonoda is going to let that happen so easily, so it can get messy. But if Nozomi is out there somewhere and alive, then these girls are the least of my concern.”

“I imagine your friend would be a little upset if you killed her girlfriend,” Maki pointed out flatly, looking around the wreckage. She started to nudge the broken pieces of furniture around with her foot, looking for anything of interest. 

“Yeah, well, I don't fucking trust werewolves. Not my fault if she needs to be put down. I also can't imagine Nozomi caring very much if she’s _dead_.”

Maki watched her for a moment before her eyes dropped to the tablets immediately in her view. “You know,” she started, kneeling down and picking a few up. “You’re a lot better to be around when you’re not shit-faced. Maybe you just have a drinking problem. People might stick around more if you’re sober.” 

“Shut the fuck up, you don’t know anything about me,” Nico muttered before turning on her heels and heading towards the door. “Everyone’s waiting. Let’s just figure all of this shit out and go our separate ways.”

There was definitely a lot to figure out before that happened, so that idea didn’t quite bring Maki much comfort. “Gladly,” she replied regardless. 

A moment passed as the first few pills sharply fell to the bottom of the plastic container, and she scooped a few more up and brought them over the opening. “Hey…” Nico murmured suddenly as she stopped at the doorway. 

The tablets clattered into the bottle, and Maki reached for more but paused, looking to Nico expectantly. 

“Are you on my side or what? Kotori doesn’t need to say anything, but I know she’s more behind the wolves than she is behind me. I might be wrong, but they might be, too. I just want to know where you stand in all of this right now. Do _you_ trust them?”

Maki mulled over it, straightening her back and sighing. “I don’t blindly put my trust in just anyone. At the moment, I’m just watching out for my own ass.” She paused. “...But don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen Sonoda-san and Minami-san from afar, and so I can take a guess at their true characters, especially after all of this has happened. There’s no real reason for them to have that high of an opinion on me, either, since all they know about me is that I have money and host parties.” She finished scooping up the last bit of pills she saw, coming to a stand. “In all honesty, I don’t expect much to happen, either. We’re currently all tied in an unspoken mutual agreement that we need to take care of all of this, like we’re unofficial spokespeople for our respective communities, or something.

“So, I don’t think it’s about sides,” Maki concluded, plucking her sunglasses off of her hat and sliding them onto her nose. “I’m not really obligated to help anyone. But I _do_ know that I’m irritated that this shit even happens—riots, fighting, people going missing because of racial tensions between humans and wereanimals and tensions even amongst ourselves. We’re fighting this on all sides. It’s just that this time around, I think I can do something about it.”

Nico scoffed and shrugged one shoulder. “You know, for a true vampire who tries to act like she’s better than everyone, you really aren’t as stuck-up as I thought you were.”

Maki realized that Nico had a point, regardless of how she irritatingly said it. She had always remained in her private sphere, not really trying to do anything for their people outside of the yearly celebration. She was above the average vampire in many ways, and that position of power bestowed a lot of confidence in her. Now, though, she started to see herself as more equal to them. Regardless of what her socioeconomic status was or what their abilities were, they were all subjected to the same discrimination in the end. That much became clear to her when cops charged at her and the rest of her guests with resentment reserved for everyone in attendance. 

Like she would let Nico know that she was right, though. She contemplated something to counter with. “Would someone who is stuck-up let thousands of people into her home to trash it every year?” Maki countered, putting a hand on her hip. “You’ve just had me wrong all along.”

“No, I don't think I did.” Nico replied simply, her look deadpan and unperturbed. 

Maki glared silently at her, though it would have been hard to tell behind sunglasses. She scoffed, giving up on her previous counter pretty effortlessly. “So what? I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t do everything I did at the party as a publicity stunt. I’m just playing the game, here, and I acknowledge that I’m one of the bigger pieces on the board. And I don’t like losing.” She tucked the pill bottle away in her coat pocket, pulling her glove onto her hand. “But I’d also be lying if I said I didn’t realize that something more was at stake. My involvement is important, not just because I basically represent vampires but because I’m standing behind my statement that I wouldn’t let humans walk all over me. So, I guess that put out a message that that goes for the rest of the vampires too.”

“Humans think the whole world is out to get them—all the while they're turning over our communities and schools and houses and trying to dictate our lives. I’m tired of getting stamped out too when I flash my ID and that fucking sticker saying I’m a witch is there attracting trouble… we’re all sick of what we have to deal with. So let’s just fucking do something about it,” Nico shrugged and grabbed the front door, waiting for her to follow suit. “Now is as good of a time as any. I just hate how it had to come down to the whole country falling apart for us all to get this idea and find ourselves in a circumstance where we’re forced to work together.”

“You’re telling me.” Maki sighed, pulling her face mask up. “Well, can’t help that things have gone to shit. Now we’ve got to pick up the pieces. Starting with finding out whatever the hell is going on with all of these fucking werewolves.”

She didn't immediately respond, her crimson eyes swimming around the destroyed apartment one final time as Maki stepped through the door and waited outside. 

Nico sighed shakily and swung the door closed, her hand lingering on the knob as she she raised the back of her other palm and wiped both corners of her eyes and sniffed. “Fucking werewolves…” she repeated as a whisper before she straightened her back and spun on her heels, shoes stamping across the walkway with forced energy. 

Maki pulled the brim of her hat down and followed a few steps behind. 

* * *

The way to Nozomi’s apartment was a cakewalk compared to the road back. The streets were flooded with protesters, many of which who were wereanimals and vampires from what she could tell. Maki took a corner too quickly, but she ended up slamming on her breaks. Everyone in the car lurched forward, banging abruptly into the backs of seats and glove compartments. Some unsuspecting guy took the brunt of the impact and bounced off the hood, flipping over her windshield.

The gasps and noises of surprise were some of the last things she was the most concerned about. She was still trying to figure out how to keep them all in one piece, which apparently wasn't very appreciated at the moment.

“What the fuck!?” Nico shouted. “Are you trying to fucking kill someone?” 

Maki swore loudly, throwing her car in reverse and looking to back track. When she glanced out of her back window, however, there were suddenly many more people in the streets than she recalled before taking the turn. 

“Look, unless _someone_ gives me the okay to start running people over, we’re going to be stuck here really fucking soon,” Maki finally said, backing up slowly to see if she could persuade the people behind her to get out of the way. It didn't seem to be very effective. In fact, when she looked out of her side window she noticed much more hostile glares in her direction. 

Things were going to shit very quickly. Angry rioters charged at her door, and she reflexively popped her car door open and aggressively shoved it outwards. Maki easily took three of them out in one swift motion, sending them onto their backs, and shut her door quickly before anyone else could try to get in. 

“This whole city is mad!” Honoka cried as she tried to duck away from the window as best as she could.

Umi, who had relinquished her seat for Eli and was awkwardly sitting on the middle console, sighed and twisted around to peer through the front window. “It’s too crowded to continue in a vehicle…”

Nico kissed her teeth and rolled her window down a sliver of the way and stuck the very edge of her wand out and muttered a spell, sending the man pressed up against her door flying back before she rolled it back up all the way. “Like hell I’m walking out in this!”

It didn't look like they would have much choice in the matter. While Maki was pretty sure that she could fight her way through the crowd, she didn't know if she could also escort five girls safely too. 

She didn't need to stress out about it for too long, since something came up that drew away the attention the mob. En masse, the crowd started to navigate toward some commotion ahead she could not immediately see. They quickly lost interest in them and started to gravitate elsewhere. Groups of werewolves thundered passed to them, most of them on all fours. A loud thumping over their heads startled them, and they ducked down as the roof caved in a little under some sort of stress. A werewolf jumped from the top and landed on the hood, easily denting it under its weight before charging forward. 

The howling and yapping of a fight and the flash of sickly green magic carried across the entire street. People began to scream and scatter as items went flying. An uprooted fire hydrant sailed through the air as people ducked and took cover behind Maki’s car.

“We need to get out of here!” Kotori exclaimed from the back seat.

Just then, from straight ahead, a split in the crowd revealed a werewolf who was poised to throw a pole with a traffic sign on the end. An orange gust of energy shoved them right as they tossed it, finding an unplanned trajectory. 

Towards them.

Maki threw off her seatbelt as the pole’s jagged end soared straight towards her car. She jumped up, shoving Umi back in the process and sending her tumbling into Eli’s lap as she turned a shoulder and braced herself, hovering over Nico. The window shattered into a million pieces and she heard a deep thunk as the end of the pole pierced her shoulder blade. Her sunglasses flew off and she held back the cry of pain in her throat. A spatter of blood flicked onto Nico’s face and clothes. 

The commotion from outside was just a muffled drone in her ears, and time seemed to have halted for her. Maki brought her hazy gaze down lethargically. It was exactly what she had expected to see. The metal went completely through her and stopped just inches before Nico’s throat.

Nico sat in complete shock, mind slow as she looked up with wide crimson eyes into Maki’s face. Nico reached up with a trembling hand and touched a splatter of blood on her cheek and looked at it before she looked at the end of the pole that was protruding from Maki.

“Holy shit,” Nico breathed shakily.

Maki shifted ever so slightly, small remnants of the windshield falling from her form and clattering into Nico's lap. The searing pain was maddening that she was not able to keep her vision entirely focused. 

“N-Nishikino-san!” Kotori screamed.

Maki stared through Nico before forcing her attention to sharpen on her. Nico was understandably mortified, and she didn’t know who wouldn’t be after having narrowly escaped an abrupt and violent end. 

“Do you… want to move out of the way, maybe?” Maki uttered quietly, surprised that she could still keep her characteristic edge in her voice. 

It took just a couple seconds for some sense to get knocked into Nico, finally. She slid her chair back, still gaping, and opened her door. Enough people had split away from the car since it was probably more dangerous to be near it than not. 

Umi looked back to the front of the vehicle, also visibly shaken at the wound. 

“Nishikino-san, we have to get you help!” Honoka piped up as she shoved her door open. The commotion outside continued to clamor on. 

“Don't bother with that,” Maki mumbled, reaching a shaky hand to grasp at the pole. She tightened her grip on it, let out a quivering breath, and squeezed. With what pure brute strength she could muster with one hand at her disposal, she snapped the protruding metal and effectively shortened it. She grimaced, unintentionally jostling the damn thing a little more than she wanted to. 

“One of you who’s got the strength and guts to pull it out, j-just get it over with,” she grumbled, showing a lot more collectedness than she was feeling. “I’m getting real tired of being pinned here.”

“You’re really sure?” Honoka asked her meekly from somewhere in front of her vehicle. 

Maki would have rolled her eyes if she had the energy to. “Knock yourself out.”

She heard shuffling, but there was no pulling. Maki was about to comment before Umi said, “I’ll do it.”

Fitting. She must have gathered the will after remembering their entire immortality exchange. It was true that she would be fine, but the thought of the pole landing a little more to the right and just a little lower was a terrifying thought. Maki was just ready to put this entire ordeal behind her. 

She braced herself as Umi wrapped both of her hands around the pole. Her fingernails dug into the leather seat and she held her breath. 

One swift yank produced a sickening shink sound, and once again Maki suppressed the need to scream out. She fell forward onto the chair and grasped at the new hole in her shoulder, blood freely flowing from between the gaps of her fingers. 

A few of them crowded around the door, but she didn’t immediately bother to find out who. 

“Nishikino-san! You’re bleeding a lot,” Honoka cried, her voice pinched up in worry. 

Maki turned around stiffly and collapsed into the seat, her eyesight suddenly assaulted by the day’s sunlight without the protection of her specially tinted windshield. It was blinding, and the moment she turned, her skin started tingling from the sunlight. No immediate effect was apparent, but Maki wasn’t extremely enthusiastic about becoming burnt toast within the next half hour. 

Luckily, she didn’t have to say anything before someone realized. “She’s going to burn up!” Nico pointed out. 

Maki heard shuffling on the driver’s side of the car, but that was all she could tell after her sight was rendered useless as if she took a flash grenade to the face. She squeezed her eyes shut. It was exactly what she needed on top of being stabbed clean through the shoulder. 

The commotion outside still roared on, and whenever someone got too close to the vehicle, Umi was quick to act. The pole doused in blood that she swung was menacing enough to keep stragglers disinterested. 

“I have a small box of face masks in the door compartment, and if you can’t find my sunglasses, there’s another pair in the glove compartment. My hat’s somewhere around here,” Maki said hoarsely, feeling someone block the sunlight from her skin in the meantime. “The bleeding will stop on its own pretty soon,” she continued. “I’ve just got to wait it out a little bit…”

Maki felt glasses slide over her eyes and she opened them too see Nico frantically pulling out masks from the door. Maki remembered she was already wearing gloves so that was one less thing to worry about. When she looked over to the driver’s side, Kotori had fetched her hat and stood up on the chair, reaching over to place it on her head, which Nico adjusted to fit right after handing her a fresh surgical mask. Maki took the mask and put it around her ears herself. 

There was still one of them that she hadn’t made note of. Maki glanced over her shoulder, realizing that Eli had remained in the backseat the entire time. Now, however, Eli was watching her, as guarded as ever. It had to be the first time that she had made eye contact with her since they found her.

“Everyone… I’ll be right back. Honoka, please get back in the car,” Umi said stiffly. 

Maki looked back ahead in time to see Umi’s back as she made a beeline right towards the skirmish. The longer that Maki studied the commotion, the more she realized what Umi had already deducted. They were not engaged with any kind of law enforcement. In fact, the police were nowhere to be found.

There weren’t officials battling witches and wolves; it was witches and wolves were fighting each other, aiming to tear each other's throats out in an all-out brawl.

Maki scoffed weakly. This was exactly what they needed right now. 

Kotori jumped up, swallowing visibly before heading towards the fray herself. After how Kotori stopped the fighting at her mansion last night and the condition she was in afterwards, Maki was honestly a bit worried for her. If she did anything up to the magnitude as she did back then, Maki wasn’t sure if Kotori would be able to walk away from this. At least, not on her own two feet.

Honoka moved to follow Kotori but flinched, her brow furrowing. Maki could only imagine what Umi would do if Honoka got directly involved with this. After seeing how Umi was back at the apartment, she probably wouldn’t take too kindly to Honoka disobeying her new commanding authority. Honoka seemed to realize that as well.

She looked up to Nico next, who seemed more preoccupied with her own well-being at the moment to notice. The shock of what had just transpired not but a moment before really seemed to have shook her. 

Maki looked ahead at the fighting, watching closely as Umi ran up and wrapped her arms around a large werewolf, effectively able to keep the creature pinned from moving. Its gaping, snarling maw whipped around in surprise, wide golden eyes burning as it thrashed against her. Umi centered her weight and twisted her upper body in an incredible feat of strength, effectively throwing the creature down to the floor and pinning it when it tried to get up. 

Kotori reached for her wand and in one swift flick of her wrist, sent the wand of an assailing witch flying. The fighting stilled for a moment as confusion lit across the eyes of the woman. 

What was transpiring before them was quickly turning for the worst. There were a few who became frozen in confusion as it seemed like two entirely different enemies joined the confrontation.

While the both of them had made enough noise and confusion to temporarily slow the altercation, many pairs of eyes were suddenly trained on them, all of them tense with wands pointed and low, threatening growls rumbling in the throats of the wolves. Looks of disdain for the two entering combatants started to ripple through the mob. 

“Hey! Who’s side are you on?!” One of the witches shouted at Kotori. “What's the meaning of all of this?”

Kotori’s lips pressed into a thin line, her grip tightening around her wand. “The side that hates seeing unnecessary fighting, especially amongst ourselves,” she answered carefully. 

Another witch spat. “The whole reason why we’re in this mess is because of werebeasts ruining the quality of lives of everyone else!”

The werewolves’ retort was growling and barking and ugly snapping of jaws and flying spittle in place of words, but their response was easy to guess. Our curse is your fault!

The werewolf Umi had pinned stopped its wild thrashing, allowing for her to release the creature and step a safe distance away. “So killing each other right now is the best solution?!” Umi called out, gauging the reactions of the individuals nearest to her. “Didn’t you stop to think that that’s exactly what our real enemies want right now?”

That seemed to flip a few minds, and Maki saw them ease in their defensive stances. The rest were still not entirely convinced.

“None of us can work through this alone,” Kotori added, her voice notably quieter than Umi’s. “We’ve all been through so much… and none of it is anyone’s fault here. We all deserve liberation...” 

Maki started to shift out of her seat as Kotori spoke, quickly drawing Nico and Honoka’s attention. 

“Sh-should you be moving?” Nico asked, but Maki ignored her, her eyes trained ahead and her hand still pressed to her wound. The clattering of glass against pavement accompanied her as she stepped out of the car, and those with sharper ears instinctively turned to her direction. 

There was a mix of reactions to her haggard appearance. Very few were of surprise while the others were more of what she was used to—disgust. They might not have known who she was, but with her get-up and her smell, it was obvious what she was. 

Still, she had been itching to say something since this whole thing started, irritated that they even needed to discuss this. “Might I remind everyone that it’s still legal to discriminate against WWVS people in over one hundred countries?” Maki called out. “And how about the fact that in about 170 countries it’s legal to hunt and kill vampires?” 

Maki paused to let that settle, feeling like they were finally getting somewhere with this crowd. “They don’t see us as people. Hell, if those monsters were here right now they’d probably pull up a chair and watch you tear each other down.”

“That’s why we need to fix our attitudes and start realizing that fighting each other is only damning yourselves to a cycle of anger and complacency in blaming one another blindly.” Umi said and nodded towards Maki appreciatively. “We’re stronger in numbers, not at each other’s throats like this. We need to make the decision now to change something. So please. Gather your loved ones and start making friends because there won't be any of us left by the time authority comes through to happily sweep this mess under the rug. That’s when we need to be ready.”

Maki took one more look around the crowd, most if not all the hostilities dispersed. For the most part, they seemed convinced. There were many whispers amongst the witches and sharp looks in between the werewolves. 

“Do what you will ultimately,” Maki added as a finishing statement. “But just make sure that if you still want to fight like it’s the medieval times that you fuck off where you aren’t bothering the people who are trying to make shit right again.”

Maki turned, not invested enough to see what they would do from there. Instead, she made her way to her trashed vehicle, sliding back into the passenger’s seat. Nico gaped at her and made to help, but froze as she toughed out the pain and pulled on her seatbelt with a little more force than necessary. She closed her eyes and focused on her wound. Maki hadn’t stopped applying pressure to it, and it still stung and ached like all hell. She humored the thought of asking someone in her company to offer her some of their blood so she could recover quicker. She felt the gnawing desire to indulge in such a way, but she had an inkling that they wouldn’t be too enthusiastic about that.

Umi came up to the passenger’s side, looking around and inside the car and gauging everyone’s conditions before she met Maki’s eyes. She hesitated as she looked to her, seeming like she was going to say something worthwhile and sappy before she seemed to decide against it with a dismissive look towards the rest of the party. “If someone else drives, I can transform and make sure the path is clear back to your place.”

“I can drive,” Nico piped up from next to her. There were no disagreements from Honoka, Eli, nor Kotori. 

Everyone took their respective seat while Umi excused herself to an alleyway that was hidden from the street. To Maki’s surprise, not even a minute later, a large blue black werewolf emerged from where she had disappeared. The clothes that Umi had been wearing were placed into her lap by big, strangely coordinated paws. She made sure to keep the awe she felt in check. Was it really that quick for werewolves to transform?

Umi closed Maki’s door and when Maki glanced over at Nico, her crimson eyes were acutely fixed on her huge lupine form. “Is this really a good idea?” Nico asked softly, causing a twitch at one of Umi’s ears and a pointed look from her amber eyes before she turned towards the road and took the lead. 

“It’ll be fine. Umi-chan can't lose control,” Honoka murmured, her tone crestfallen and tired—the first thing she had said in quite a while. 

“Sonoda-san wouldn't suggest it if she didn't think this wasn't the best course of action,” Kotori added, her eyes fixated on Umi, as well. 

Nico seemed to be convinced as she started the car, turning the engine over to life. Ahead, the group of werewolves and witches had dispersed and very little people were left, thankfully. Maki just wanted this damn day to be over as they gradually made their way through the worst of the damage with Umi escorting the vehicle, snorting and scaring away anyone who got close enough as she easily bounded ahead of the car, keeping pace all the way back to her estate.


	19. Licking Wounds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we’re back.... the motivation hit us again cause of some nice comments and we’re excited to keep on keepin on. let us know what you think, it helps!!!
> 
> more angst train incoming

The ride back was as uneventful with a transformed Umi leasing back the vehicle on all fours. 

By the time her trashed car rolled pitifully back into the garage, Maki’s wound had finally sealed up. She still looked like a nightmare with the gore staining her tattered clothing, but at the very least, injuries weren’t her largest concern. 

 

The car cleared out, the large wolf form of Umi coming to assist Eli out of the back seat. Nico came around for her, unable to fully meet her eyes as she pulled the door open and cleared her throat.

“Do you want me to call over your posse?” Nico asked her with a grimace as she looked over her bloodied state of dress.

Maki gave her a long, empty stare before she accepted Nico’s _hospitality_ and pulled herself out of the car. She decided not to humor Nico with a response, her eyes drawing to Umi. 

“Hey,” Maki called to the towering form of Umi. 

Umi’s large, triangular ears perked up as she angled her head towards her, her eyes slowly blinking in acknowledgement. 

“Let’s meet back in our original meeting spot in about an hour. I’ve got some rounds to make… and a bath to take too.” Maki looked down to her less-than-presentable self, sighing through her nose. “The guest bathrooms are yours to use as you see fit, and I’ll make sure dinner’s in order too. Let one of my attendants know if you need anything.” 

It was strange, seeing the flick of brows and the steady sigh of breath from a bowing lupine head that Maki interpreted as a _thank you_ with little difficulty. 

With that, Umi turned to Honoka. One of Umi’s intimidatingly large arms wrapped around Eli’s shoulders, dwarfing her in comparison. She used her nose to send a gust of air towards her, blowing some of her ginger hair out of her face that Honoka had no reaction to aside from shifting her attention to her. Umi gestured with her nose towards Kotori.

Honoka took a moment, looking into her amber eyes as she seemed to consider the meaning of something unsaid. “I’ll look after her. You take care of Eli-chan,” she saidid softly.

Umi stood still for a long moment before turning away, guiding Eli back towards the mansion. She hesitated to give Kotori a long look.

Kotori’s eyes weren’t on anything in particular, but she seemed to feel those sharp amber eyes on her, her attention pulling towards Umi. She looked between Umi and Honoka, processing the words that had been exchanged while she was half-listening, and started after Honoka, but not before taking a quick peek at Nico before she did so.

Maki watched the four of them head off to rest and get cleaned up, finally being left with just Nico. 

“What’s wrong with your witch friend? She’s been quiet pretty much this entire time,” Maki asked. She meant to ask earlier, but there was never really room for her to fit it in between flying poles and mysteriously overturned apartments.

The sigh that Nico let off was ragged and tired. “I don’t know… after last night’s scare, I would say Kotori’s just exhausted and going with the flow. She’s the kind of girl that’s speak when spoken to as it is until she can do something about it. I’d say she’s feeling just as powerless as the rest of us as all of this is unfolding.”

“Hmm.”

Maki let the conversation drop after that, figuring that there wasn’t much else to say at that point.

The walk back to the main stretch of Maki’s estate was just as uneventful. When they passed back through the doors of the main foyer, it was certainly _different_ to see that her home was still occupied patrons from the night of the party. The atmosphere had definitely shifted to something heavy and oppressive, as well. People were sparsely collected throughout the mansion, having hushed, serious conversations concerning their fates in the next few days. Maki saw the people getting around with crutches while plenty of others wrapped in gauze. It looked a bit like a makeshift war hospital.

Maki was more than eager to get out of her soiled outfit and into something more comfortable, since anything beats being covered head to toe in blood. Everyone else had already excused themselves to their own prospective brooding corners, Maki would do the same. 

She gave a half-assed wave to Nico, pulling the sunglasses and hat off of her head. Nico gave her a small nod in dismissal before Maki made her way to her own room, letting out a long sigh from her nose.

“Hey,” Nico called as Maki had her first foot on the ascending stairs. 

Maki glanced back at her wordlessly, not hiding the settling in exhaustion on her face.

Nico crossed her arms, not deterred by the look. “You gonna be alright? After having taken a pole to the back and everything. I’d feel pretty bad if you died in your room or something while no one was paying attention.”

Maki scoffed. She acknowledged the intent behind Nico’s words, and that they were actually pretty _kind_ , so she’d let the small jab pass. “No, I’ll be fine. Besides, my _posse_ should be meeting with me soon anyway.”

At that, Nico grunted noncommittally, walking off to some location unknown to Maki. “Suit yourself.”

Maki watched her disappear beyond the doors of one of the lounges before she continued on her way. It was nice to finally be away from all peering eyes when she got back to the privacy of her room, knowing that she had garnered a lifetime’s worth of attention within just the past twenty-four hours. She immediately started up a bath, discarding her bloodied ensemble on the white marble tiled floor of her bathroom. Maki didn’t think twice about tossing out the tattered articles of clothing, knowing she wanted to start putting the day’s _excitement_ long behind her by getting rid of the evidence. By the time the soaps in the water started to foam and lather, the pleasant scent of coconut and vanilla wafted through the room to mask that of the dirt, sweat, and blood that generally clung to her.

Before getting in, she tied her hair up in a bun and finally sunk into the hot water, physically feeling the stress melt off of her with each inch that she sunk in. A long sigh rolled from her as she slunk back and rested against the curved porcelain of the tub, left to mull over the events of the previous day. 

Sonoda Umi. Minami Kotori. Those two faces stuck out to her the most in her most recent tribulations. Of course two of the most relevant family names to the community would conveniently be at her party, springing into action the next day to address the turmoil that their entire world was thrown into. She knew Umi in passing, since she had attended Maki’s yearly celebration for the past couple of years, and that information wouldn’t be lost to her since it’s almost _all_ any of the wereanimals talk about when her and her pack show up just about anywhere. They were pretty recognizable in most aspects. The daughter of a well-known politician and advocate would do that, and Maki was no stranger to that sort of treatment, either. 

As for the witch, Maki was less familiar with her. She did hear that she was attending an ordinary Tokyo university (the exact one alluded her because it wasn’t terribly interesting information for her to retain). What _was_ important was that it wasn’t a magic school, which Kotori _definitely_ would have been able to get into anywhere in the world. The last thing she had heard about the Minami name was the opening of a twelfth magical school in Numazu and the passing of a five-hundredth year anniversary for their first, of which Headmistress Minami was currently the coordinator of.

Maki recalled the final climax of last night, thinking about how it was that everything came to an abrupt end with Kotori’s magic. Maki had never seen such a fervent display of ability from _any_ witch, if it was at all even possible. For all she cared about, magic was as viable as science, even though many practitioners in the magical arts would argue otherwise, and vise versa with scientists. That was a long-winded debate that stretched back to the beginning of time. 

But what she saw from Kotori? Magic of that magnitude was only ever really seen in fiction. That was _powerful_ stuff. 

It’s hopeful of her, but maybe—a big, skeptical maybe as it was—the tools to get something set in motion had landed right in Maki’s lap. They needed to plan accordingly and start building their momentum into something favorable.

When she surfaced from her room, Maki was unremarkably aware that her place was still trashed. There’d been an effort to straighten things out, but it looked more like a refugee shelter than when she had last left it.

Hopeful eyes turned towards her as she went from attendant to attendant for a grasp on the situation, as if something new or exciting would happen with Maki in the premises. Maki made an extra attempt to avoid eyes, knowing well that now that this type of attention was on her and she couldn’t deliver anything of value to her hurting guests.

Maki happened upon Erena talking lowly to Tsubasa and she wasted no time approaching. 

“Anything to report?” She asked dryly and both Erena and Tsubasa turned and bowed as if expecting her.

Erena perked up. “The guests have separated and claimed certain portions of the house for their own. They are working well together, splitting food and water without much hassle, but at this rate, we speculate that we have only a week to comfortably ration all of the guests, at the most.”

Maki nodded, arms crossing over her chest. It was to be expected that everyone would surround themselves with their own kind. And a week really wasn’t a lot of time... “Anything else?” She asked after a sigh.

“We have the police all tied up and stripped of their weapons and equipment in the basement. We went through with an interrogation of the captain in charge, but he’s shy of talking. We have Anju working with him, now.”

A grin grew across Maki’s lips, faint. “I see. We’ll give her more time to come up with any results. If anything changes, let me know right away. I need to meet with Sonoda and Minami to hammer out a plan of action. I think we’ll pay the captain a visit later. Make sure he’s presentable for my guests.”

“Yes, Nishikino-sama,” Erena and Tsubasa said in unison and Maki departed back to the study to wait for everyone to reconvene on the same ground.

Much to her annoyance, she was left waiting, but Maki exercised her patience, staring across at the wall on a cushy corner seat before she helped herself to the bar, mixing a drink of blood and booze.

Kotori arrived first. Another point as of why Maki thought her to be the least annoying. She was prompt. She nodded her greeting and they wait in silence before Umi and Eli show up. Nico, of course, was last to show.

Immediately, Maki looked to Umi, wondering if she’d be the first to say something. They stood in a slightly uncomfortable silence for a little longer, the air thick with uncertainty. 

Umi took the initiative that Maki extended to her. “I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that Rin, Toujou-san, and Koizumi-san are missing. We’re exactly at half force, licking our own wounds while everything unfolds.”

“Alright,” Maki agreed slowly. The time that they had been left to their own devices had obviously helped Umi start to paint a picture as to what was happening. That was something good for a change. “What’s your reasoning?”

“You know from what we’ve told you today that wolf pack rivalries run deep,” Umi started, her eyes drawing down as she sat ramrod straight in the seat she occupied. “Territories used to be very closely monitored and kept, but recently, those boundaries have been blurred. It’s by the benefit of the doubt that they’re encroached upon by other wereanimals, but certain domains have been marked by my family as a sort of ruling territory where our words are final over the werewolf packs and other wereanimals who do occupy those areas that choose to follow those words out of respect for my family’s name. It’s been like this ever since the wereanimal population began to grow from the hundreds in feudal times to the thousands to the hundreds of thousands today.

“Strict territory markers used to be the governing force that kept wolf pack law at peace. That law being, if you cross over an enemy border, you are no longer in a place of safekeeping. Most trespassers were killed, many more taken as hostages for leverage in fiery disputes of land claims and politics. Because of these age old aggressions that are bred into us, wolf packs don’t get along.

“That’s why Tsuruya Rei is my prime suspect right now. She’s been plotting something and I should have realized the danger we were in sooner. I caught one of her lackeys following me last week and questioned her. I didn’t get any information out of her, so I thought it would be useless to report. I’m such a fool.”

Umi paused to mull over her words, pressing on. “Tsuruya has been giving my pack trouble for as long as I could remember, having been born into families that share an archaic but somewhat enforced territorial border. Her name has always been one that thrives out of spite for us Sonodas—challenging the progress we make and criticizing us for how we operate. She had been getting vocal with her disapproval more over the years as my pack started to grow. She’s a purist and doesn’t agree with how I’ve been branching out… that much was made painfully obvious when I took in Honoka and Eli, even more so when we found Rin beaten half to death on our territory.

“It feels like a coup to uproot the current system we have—to start anew from the ashes. But now that all of this is in motion, we’re powerless to stop it.”

“She’s afraid of what you can do,” Kotori cut in, a breed of determination in her eyes now that the picture seems to have become more clear. “Of what _we_ can do.”

Maki pressed both of her palms down onto the bar, leaning forward as she sensed a call to action stirring up. “Tsuruya has unknowingly brought us all together, after all.”

The silence that settled over them was one of steady realization.

“What do we do now, though?” Nico pressed. Maki was the only one in the room who didn’t look completely hopeless.

She looked between everyone with a hint of satisfaction. “We strike back. And luckily, I might have some information.”

“What do you mean?” Umi shifted to stand. Eli seemed to have gained some awareness of the conversation somewhere along the way. Her eyes were a bit more responsive to the action happening in the room.

“Thanks to Minami, we have an entire police force down for questioning. If this gets as into law as you say, then maybe they know something down on an institutional level,” Maki explained. “Maybe they know something that Tsuruya doesn’t and that should be our starting point.”

There was a spark of action ignited in the room. There was finally a task at hand that wasn’t sitting around waiting for fate to bowl them over. 

Umi stood, moved by the idea. “Let’s get to it, then.”

Maki lead the way. 

The basement was as luxurious as the rest of her estate, the lounging area furnished like a modern casino suite with tall digital walls that looked like huge panels of glass overseeing a romantic night city view of Paris. The lights there were warm, low bulbs that mimicked candlelight, the rich reds and lovely velvets of the floors and walls cozy and seeming to eat up space.

There were a few things out of the ordinary. On the pool table, there was a giant pile of tasers, guns, ammunition, mace, batons, and tear gas canisters sorted out. 

“Guns, even? Cops haven’t been packing like this since the forties,” Nico commented first. “They were really planning on doing a number on us, huh?”

The question was left rhetorical when Maki went to grab the item of the most interest to her, one of the magazines. “They’ve got silver bullets in them,” she commented. If anyone could recognize pure silver the best, it was definitely her. 

Another hand reached into the pile, picking up one of the hand guns. Maki looked over to see that it was actually _Eli_ who was there beside her, actively inspecting the weapon. Maki didn’t even have anything to say, probably stunned to silence like everyone else. But Eli’s empty stare rolls over the barrel of the weapon before her attention turns to the grip. 

After everything she had seen from Eli (or really, a lack thereof), seeing something like that put her a little on edge. “Am I the only one who is deeply concerned about _this_ particular one holding a dangerous weapon?” Maki asked, looking straight to Umi.

Umi seemed more attentive than ever now that Eli had also found interest in something, her eyes never leaving Eli. “You are,” she replied simply. 

With a click and a shuffle, Maki’s attention snapped back to Eli to find that she had separated the magazine from the gun.

“If anyone knows how to work safely around guns, it’s Eli. She’s familiar with them since her home country has different gun laws than we do,” Umi explained. “Though I do understand the source of your concern…”

“Armor-piercing cartilages,” Eli stated in a deadpan. She tossed the magazine onto the table, pulling on the chamber to send the remaining round in the barrel flying out before tossing that back into the pile as well. 

“So they _did_ do their homework,” Umi remarked, sighing. “It seems like they didn’t drop the silly silver thing, though.”

“What do you mean by that?” Maki questioned. 

“It means that the effectiveness of silver on werewolves is actually a very common myth. But whatever helps them _feel_ better, I suppose.” The tone that Umi took up was biting, as if she wanted to say more, but she left it there. 

After one last glance of the pile, Maki led them past the table the rest of the way to their destination. Two bored looking attendants straightened up right away when she entered and greeted her. 

“Nishikino-sama. We were alerted that you might come. Yuki-san is still at work with the captain. Would you like to see how the other officers are being kept?” One man inquired, a hand crossing over his chest in a gesture of respect. 

“I trust things are in order. I would like to meet with the captain at this point, however,” Maki said, matter of fact as she looks around curiously. 

“Right this way, then.”

Maki took a quick look over her shoulder at Umi and company,

“Sonoda-san…? Where is Kousaka-san?” Kotori whispered to Umi, perfectly heard by Maki’s sharp ears.

“She’s being pouty in her room,” Umi sighed. “I prefer it this way.”

Kotori seemed uneasy even in her silence, but she didn’t press. 

The lot of them were led to a secure door with a staircase that led down to a cellar with a low ceiling. It was dark and rustic, romantically lit by candlelight that shimmered off of age old barrels of hearty wood and the sharp smell of cedar and dust was thick in the air. 

But Maki could smell the delectable, sweet copper of blood even at the top of the stairs and she became a bit nervous. How she hoped Anju has received her message and was _behaving_ for her guests. 

Sure enough, they turn past a shelf of stacked barrels and steel frames, lanterns and more candlelight flooding a walkway that was flanked by more barrels. Two vampire guards stepped out of the way to let them in.

There was Anju, casually sitting on a knee-high crate as she hummed, leaning back on her palms, clearly expecting them as her violet eyes meet Maki’s own amethyst ones. Anju smiled vaguely—cryptically. 

“I was just resting, Nishikino-sama. So was Komiya-taichou,” she explained without missing a beat. 

And of course, it was impossible to miss the slumped, tied up figure opposite of her. He was middle aged with a sullen, sweaty face. The shadow he casted from the lantern light was larger than him. The officer’s hair was disheveled and he trembled in his seat all the way down to his boots, his red rimmed eyes never leaving Anju, not even to acknowledge the others as they filed in. 

Maki took in Captain Komiya’s health—he was bandaged around the hands, his neck, and his face. She could smell the bloodied water in a bucket tucked away nearby out of sight that they must have used to clean him up. 

She looked back at Umi and Kotori in particular. They were both grim faced, Umi’s jaw tensed to hell. Before they could speak, Maki cut into any thoughts the had. “This is necessary. He’s not going to die.”

“This is wrong,” Umi snapped almost immediately. 

Anju was the one to speak up in a slight sing-song that was awfully composed and even. “Not as wrong as some of the things he’s done.”

At that, Maki looked back in interest, moral lines blurred or not. 

“I don’t _care_ about what he’s done, I would never stoop to their level. My father would condemn this treatment to even our worst enemies and—“

“Sonoda.”

To Maki’s surprise, it’s Nico who spoke. 

“I don’t like it either. But the sooner we get what we know, the sooner this all ends. I want answers and I’m sure you do, too. Fight fire with fire.” Nico scoffed. “Something like that.”

“There will be _ashes_ left of our conflicts if we continue to do this to each other,” Umi hissed. “It has to stop _somewhere_.”

Maki figured this would happen. It could have possibly been worse if Komiya was in any worse condition. She steeled her voice as she tried her hand at convincing her. “It _will_ stop. But we’re going to have had the last blow before that happens. Let me prove to you that this was the right choice. Anju wouldn’t haven’t pressed if she didn’t think he knew anything of value.”

Umi frowned, deep and disapproving. Eli seemed to bring something up from her as she placed a hand on Umi’s shoulder, garnering her attention with some sort of significant look in wolf-language. It was the first thing Maki saw on her face that wasn’t silent, corpse-like indifference. 

“You have my attention for five minutes. After that, if I’m not convinced, I will take no part in this,” Umi finally stated. 

Maki hoped that Anju really had something of substance. The last thing she needed was Umi walking out on her. 

“What does he know?” Maki looked back to Anju with a nod. 

“First and foremost,” Anju started. “The police knew this whole country was coming down.” She uncrossed and crossed her legs the other way as she gave the captain a dangerous smile. He struggled in his binds, clearly terrified of her. “They were ordered to contain this event on the basis of the Halloween Cancellation Clause, but that was a front. Their most important task was to make sure that you, Nishikino-sama, didn’t form a militia against the state when things undoubtedly went south because of your influence to gather the WWVS community in spite of everything. They were sent to contain and keep us _troublemakers_ under control. They’re afraid of us as an organized force, for some reason.”

The initial surprise over her findings wore off with a scoff from Nico. “What the hell?”

“Hmph. That sounds familiar, doesn’t it?” Maki offered over her shoulder to Umi, whose lips were pursed. 

The gears were turning in everyone’s minds as Anju continued. “His orders are from higher up. He won’t tell me from who, but some big people seem to be involved—or at least someone with a lot of money. And they were given the order to shoot to kill if they felt threatened. Awful, isn’t it?” 

That seemed to pique Umi’s interest. But something told Maki that as long as she knew what was going on here in the cellar, this interrogation was stopping. “They had their weapons out unprovoked,” Umi noted. 

“If I wasn’t there… I think someone would have gotten very hurt.” Kotori said absently. 

Maki looked between everyone carefully. “What’s done is done. Now we have to focus on finding these higher ups.”

“And do what?” Umi pressed. 

“Get them to claim responsibility?” Nico sighed hard and went to rub her temples. “Everything is total mayhem right now. They might be waiting for the dust to settle to have proved some point because it’s the WWVS people who are out there fighting on the streets… they’re making us look so bad. And that’s what they want, isn’t it?”

“And whoever it is is trying to grab control after all of this is over,” Maki concluded. 

Umi crossed her arms, expression grave. “That still doesn’t help us decide what to do. How in the world do we fix this?”

Silence. 

It’s Eli who spoke up. “The sooner we’re at full force, the more leverage we have to make something happen.” Murmurs of agreement sound around the room. 

“What about Kousaka? She was onto something back at Nozomi’s, wasn’t she?” Nico suggested. 

That tense moment was still fresh on everyone’s mind, but Maki knew that Nico was right. Eli seemed to withdraw back into her mind at being mentally brought back to that place. 

Kotori placed a hand on Umi’s shoulder with a reassuring smile. “Well, let’s see what she’s figured out.”

Umi needed little more convincing. They all made their way back up stairs after Maki ordered Anju to continue her interrogation, but under the pretenses that she should continue on as though Umi was watching her, which seemed to put Umi at ease. 

It was a short-lived ease. 

At the room that Maki had set aside for Honoka, no one answered the door upon knocking. Umi shouldered in, the words catching on the tip of her tongue as the realization stilled her. The room was empty. 

“Kousaka-san… she can be somewhere in the house,” Kotori suggested in an attempt to lighten up Umi, who had her phone out to call her. 

“She better be. Doesn’t she know things are dangerous and that we need to—“ Umi was cut off as the ring of Honoka’s phone sounded from the bedside. All eyes turned uneasily to the sound. Umi approached it rigidly and picked it up, declining the call with an unreadable expression. 

Umi inputs the passcode to Honoka’s phone, the locked screen opening up to a typed note. Maki couldn’t make out what it said, but Umi paled as she looked it over once, twice. “She went out on her own.”

 _“What?”_ Maki asked sharply.

“She went out on her own,” Umi whispered so quietly that it sent chills down Maki’s spine. After the incident in the apartment, the picture began to grimly fall into place. 

Umi tossed the phone down onto the bed and was out the door as quickly as she had entered. Kotori and Eli sped after her. 

And, as if on queue, Nico slipped by to snatch up the still-open phone and read the message.

“Oh… wow, this is bad. ‘Sorry Umi-chan but I’ve gotta do this,’” Nico started to read out loud quickly. “‘I want to prove to you that I can do this and that I deserve to be by your side… gotta show that I’m not a burden or some helpless kid you need to watch…’”

Nico was nosy as hell, but Maki appreciated the insight on the situation. “Is that it?” Might as well since they had come this far. 

“Well, she’s gone off the deep end, that’s for sure. My guess is that she couldn’t take being treated like an irresponsible child. I mean, if I were in her shoes, I probably would have done the same thing, especially if someone told me I couldn’t do something.”

Maki wanted to bitch at her for how childish that sounded, but it was pointless. Everything had truly gone to shit. “Let’s just figure this all out and get back on track.”

“And how are we going to do that exactly? I’d say our chances of being helpful right now just slipped out the front door.”

“Because you wanted to be nosy,” Maki clapped back. 

“Huh–!? Don’t pull that on me, you’re still here too!” Nico countered, crossing her arms with the phone in-hand. 

“It’s my house. You can leave.”

Nico glared holes into her and snorted. “Be fucking reasonable for more than two seconds. They must at least have an idea of where she went, so I think we just play the waiting game now.”

Maybe Nico was right. It seemed like they exhausted their moments of being useful for the time being, so it seemed like it really would be the waiting game for now. 

Maki liked to pride herself as _patient_ , but with Nico constantly pacing around her study, she couldn’t relax and sit in any sort of peace. 

More than two hours passed with no sign of Kotori, Umi, Eli, or Honoka. 

Then, through the radio silence, Nico got a phone call from Kotori. Maki didn’t have to strain to hear both sides of the conversation from where she sat. 

“We found her,” Kotori said, sounding poignant. 

“And what’s the bad news?” Nico asked next, prepared for the worst. 

“She’s really hurt. You and Nishikino-san have to hurry. I’m afraid we might be too late…”


	20. Eye of the Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an update so soon.... well, we’ve had a lot of this written for a while, it’s just that we needed the motivation to tie it all together and we got it!! thank ya’ll for the comments and kudos, like wow.... we’re like 130k words in. i’ve never written anything this long like ever. it’s been a lot of hard work and determination.
> 
> as always, let us know what you think!

Maki scrambled into Homura Bakery with handfuls of medical supplies. Nico was close behind in tow, carrying armfuls of gauze and bandages, as well. 

Honoka laid out in the living room, the kotatsu pushed aside and the television off. Umi had hardly let her eyes off of Honoka’s feverish face. 

Honoka panted hard, struggling to breathe past the pain, even in her sleep. 

Her mother, father, and sister surrounded her, distraught and each doing what they could on the sidelines while Kotori worked with her. There wasn’t much for them to do but watch. 

For the duration of the time it took Maki to get there, Kotori had done her best keeping Honoka’s wounds from bleeding out—an arduous task that had her visibly sweating as she chanted an incantation and held a gem close to Honoka’s body. Umi wanted desperately to tell Kotori to take it easy, but the chance of losing Honoka for Kotori’s comfort stilled her tongue. 

Maki buckled down and asked for room. With the combined powers of her, Nico, and Kotori working to Maki’s exact instructions, things moved forward from the state that Kotori suspended Honoka over. 

Yukiho ran clean water back and forth from the kitchen and Honoka’s parents helped to bring anything else Maki may have needed that she couldn’t carry there. 

Umi can hardly look away, even after being shooed out into the hall. She paced back and forth anxiously, digging crescents into her forearms and biting the inside of her lip until she drew blood. 

Umi refrained from asking again and again if there was anything that she could do. All of their bases seemed to be covered and she could only be a nuisance asking to have a place in the room. Even Nico was putting herself to some use, with some magical direction of Kotori.

Why had she let this happen? Where could she have prevented this? Why didn’t Honoka just _talk_ to her? Umi should have tried harder to understand. She should have tried harder to be there for her instead of being completely blind to what Honoka needed the most. 

The scenes leading up to this mess play endlessly in her head like a horror film on vivid repeat in her mind. She squeezed her arms tighter, digging her fingers into her skin harder to stop herself from falling apart. 

_After hours of following Honoka’s scent, it becomes more and more clear as of where she was headed. It especially worried her as the unmistakable musk of cinnamon accompanied Honoka’s warm scent._

_Tsuruya territory. Umi ran harder, the soles of her shoes pounding against the floor as she feels her heart clap thunderously in her ears. She was close. She had to be. She just had to—_

_A salty, metallic smell assaults her nose, peppered with the lingering burnt scent of gunpowder._

_It was impossible for Umi to think as her worst fears were realized and the blood mingled with Honoka’s trail. She was not far off and to her dismay, when she can finally see the blood and follow it visually, a most gut-wrenching image of Sauveterre Euphemia carrying a wounded Honoka into a concealed spot met her eyes. Umi didn’t understand what she was seeing. Honoka—blood seeping out of multiple bullet holes on her limp body—carried by her enemy. There was Hanayo—timid as she followed close behind Euphemia._

_Umi had nearly blacked out from the swell of emotions—rage, fear more than she has ever known, denial, and vengeance. They threatened to tear her asunder, she was so livid with the need to move._

_Umi screamed out for Euphemia to stop. She looked back, green eyes wide and her face pale. “I can’t explain now. Please, she needs help!”_

_Umi hadn’t expected for Euphemia to be so understanding. She didn’t know how to properly respond past running up to her, looking unblinkingly down at Honoka in her arms. She counted one, two, three, four spots of blood that seeped through the jacket and shorts._

_Umi didn’t recognize the clothes she had on her. She felt sick with worry as she took Honoka into her arms. Euphemia gave her up with no qualms._

_“Honoka,” Umi choked out, feeling oddly numb like she was dreaming, a fuzziness around her vision that made everything so surreal._

_Honoka stirred and Umi could hardly feel relief at the small motion. Crystal blue eyes opened and met her gaze, her lids heavy and eyes unseeing. “Umi-chan,” she rasped. “I’m—g-glad you made it.”_

_“Please don’t talk. I’m calling for help. Kotori is with Eli not far behind, you’re going to be okay,” Umi felt herself say, but she seemed so distant from her own body, like she was a spectator over her own shoulder as she knelt to the ground, unsure of how to hold her without hurting her._

_Honoka hummed so weakly, and even through all of the pain she must have felt, she smiled so faintly. “I tried to…help. Didn’t work... too well…huh? Everyone’s probably just mad... at me now.”_

_Umi’s jaw tightened and regret surged anew though her, tearing her apart until she was fragments of who she was._

_“No one is mad at you,” Umi brokenly said as her vision became blurry with watery tears. It was Umi herself that she was furious at. She should have known. She should have tried._

_The relief on Honoka’s face was short lived as she returned to a grimace, her brows furrowing. Still, she tried to keep her eyes up on Umi, a certain sadness in her eyes. “I’m sorry…”_

_Umi laughed bitterly, swallowing the hard knot in her throat. “Why are you sorry?”_

_“For… being me.”_

_Umi was stunned to a briefly silence. She shook her head and the tears flowed freely down her cheeks. “What… what do you mean?”_

_“It’s all my fault… I know you had… trouble with your dad. When you made that decision. Still do—“ Honoka coughed, the sharp pain it gave her evident on her face. Still, she continued. “I think a lot… about how much I owe you. For saving me all that time ago… and now…”_

_Umi tried to hush Honoka. She couldn’t bare the pain of hearing her talk like this, but it was to no avail._

_“Now I’m doing it again.” Tears started to sting at Honoka’s eyes now, but whether or not it was from pain, sadness, or frustration, it was impossible to discern. “I just can’t catch up. No matter what I do, I can’t make it up to you… because it must have been hard. For you to do all that… for me.”_

_So that was how she saw it. Honoka thought she was indebted to her for saving her life. Honoka couldn’t have been more wrong—Umi had had an unbreakable friendship with her that she couldn’t have lived without. Honoka had done so much for her and the fact that she might never know that…_

_“That’s not true. I couldn’t have made it this far without your support—without you being there. Please stay with me. Eli is coming. Please keep your eyes open,” Umi begged, her head bowing as she held Honoka close and stood._

_But if Honoka was trying to heed Umi’s words, it didn’t show. Her eyes went out of focus, a battle of consciousness unfolding that had Umi praying to every god she knew._

——

That could very well be the last thing that Honoka would ever say to her. The guilt festered inside of her, making her restless and irate. She needed to busy herself with something or else she would go mad. 

She felt the need to sit under an ice cold waterfall, the need to run to the ends of the earth if it meant turning this all around, the desire to make things right at any cost no matter who got hurt. Even if that was at the cost of her own well-being, she would happily trade that for Honoka’s wellness. Umi loved her so much. This just wasn’t fair. 

Umi heard the shop front open and she stopped her pacing, her arms slowly falling to her side as she gripped her hands into iron fists. She turned around, accusatory as she stepped towards the door and directed her anger at something that wasn't herself. “Haven’t you hurt us enough? What more do you want to take from me?!” 

The expression on Euphemia’s face was grave. It gave Umi nothing to go off on for fueling her ridiculing questions. “You have to believe me when I tell you that I wanted nothing to happen to Kousaka-san.”

“I’ll believe you when you start talking. Tell me what happened and _everything_ you know,” Umi demanded sharply back. 

Euphemia sighed, her arms crossing over her chest. She seemed to contemplate where to even start, trying to pick the words. “I was tasked with watching Koizumi-san after the party. She’s been a sweet girl, far too nice for her own good. And I’m not even like that with the whole ‘bad guy’ or ‘kidnapping’ thing, okay? So she’s been with me the whole time, and we went to meet up with Rei after Koizumi-san stopped at home for some things. I didn’t expect Kousaka-san to find a trail to us, let alone at such a bad time…”

Umi couldn’t comprehend _why_ Euphemia would do something like that for Hanayo, but she pressed on. “What happened when Honoka found you?”

“I mean, naturally I think she tried to get so many answers that I couldn’t even really begin to start right there and then. I was just mostly shocked to see her. She’s got a sharp nose, that’s for sure.”

There was so much that still didn’t make any sense. “Well, wasn’t that part of your plan—for her to come to you? To separate us and bring her into a trap?”

Despite Umi’s accusatory tone, Euphemia was speaking evenly, not matching her in any emotion. “No. It wasn’t meant to happen like that. I knew Rei was meeting with _someone_ , but she wouldn’t say who. She has been telling me less and less recently, and it’s _infuriating._ And believe me, I would have stayed miles away if I had known that she was meeting with _federal forces.”_

Federal forces? So they were intrinsically linked, after all. This was apart of a bigger picture that Umi couldn’t possibly unfold on her own. “The police… are you saying officers shot Honoka?” She asked in disbelief. 

“They didn’t expect another werewolf to be there. There was just so much confusion between my trying to figure out what Rei was doing to Rei attacking _me_ with questions, and I guess it made the officers _nervous.”_ She spat the last word out, seeming to recall some emotion from the event. “It had Kousaka-san feeling that way too because she… well, she decided that her best defense was to transform.”

Officers, Rei, Euphemia, Honoka, and even Hanayo being there… it’s confusing to picture as it was. A realization dawned on Umi. “She did it to protect herself and they probably felt threatened…”

“I’d say she was probably right. I’d probably do the same thing. If she didn’t, I think things would have been…” Euphemia trailed off, seeming to wonder if she should finish her thought before she sighed and watched Umi with a newborn concern. “A lot worse.”

Umi pressed her lips into a thin line as she thought over this new information. It sounded as though Euphemia _was_ trying to help, if she was to be believed. She _did_ find Euphemia carrying Honoka away from the scent of gunpowder. And if Hanayo stuck with her through that chaos, perhaps she thought that was the safest option for her. 

Eli came from upstairs, causing the both of their heads to turn towards her. “Koizumi-san is asleep,” she reported stoically.

Umi nodded and looked back to Euphemia hesitantly. She wanted to extract her for everything she knew, but she had been meaning to talk to Eli properly since what had happened at Nozomi’s. She felt like she direly needed to make those amends before anything else. But before that, she wanted to know one thing. 

“Rin and Toujou-san… are they okay? Did any of your people hurt them?” She asked, feeling at such a loss that she wouldn’t know what to do with herself if Rin or Nozomi were… she shivered. She didn’t want to think about it, the thought leaving her empty as she steeled her eyes.

Umi could see the contemplation on Euphemia’s face. Her lips parted to speak before she closed them again, looking quickly to Eli before she looked down. “How do I say this…? Well, we don’t know about Hoshizora-san, but I was there when she transformed and left the party. I-I figure this is the time to come clean about everything, huh?” Euphemia scratched at the back of her head, her brows furrowed. “She… she was helping Rei and us get information about all of you. But Rei threatened Hoshizora-san to do it, and I think fear is what kept her in check.” 

Rin must have felt so alone, like she had no other choice. Umi’s heart ached tenfold. 

“She was never injured or anything. That is, not since we first found her all that time ago.” Euphemia watched Umi carefully, and naturally her lips pressed into a thin line just as Umi narrowed her eyes at her. She pressed on. “I think Rei wanted to clear you all out of the picture so she could spearhead this revolution herself. By splitting all of you up, you’d be chasing your own tails before anything else to give us time to step up and establish ourselves at the front of the movement. But Rei told me less and less the more time that went on. I had _no_ idea that she had done everything that she did to you and your pack until it was too late. If I had known, I would have done something sooner, but she plotted behind my back.”

“You would have tried to stop all of this?” Umi asked slowly. 

“Yes,” Euphemia responded adamantly. “I may not agree with everything you believe in, but this is _not_ the way things should have unfolded.”

“What about Nozomi?” Eli pressed, and Umi’s attention snapped right to her. Right then and there, Umi could read her like an open book. She looked terrified, but for the first time since they found her, _hopeful._

Euphemia slowly met Eli’s eyes, sighing out her nose. “From what I know, Minori and Mayumi-san followed after you when you left the party. I don’t know what they were commanded to do by Rei, but I think those plans when out the window when they actually got there. I think… I think _they_ were the ones to actually save _Toujou-san_.”

Umi paled and looked to Eli, who looked like she had just seen a ghost. 

“Yeeaah… when they came back with Toujou-san and explained what happened, I couldn’t believe it myself. They hadn’t ever seen a humanely conscious werewolf go feral like that. I think… she might have tried to attack Toujou-san, but they were there to stop it. I think the apartment itself tells the result of the fray on its own…”

That information had great difficulty actually settling in, especially with Eli, who was taking it the worst. 

“But Toujou-san wasn’t hurt,” Euphemia added in quickly when she realized what was starting to brew beneath the surface in that moment. “Not even a scratch. She’s fine now too and has been. She was with Rei at the confrontation earlier, and she… handed Toujou-san over to the police.”

“The police?” Umi sighed hard. “We already know that the police are in an agreement with someone pulling the strings. That means whoever has Toujou-san is who we’re really after.” Umi paused, looking back to Euphemia. “Not that I have forgiven Tsuruya-san. I believe she will pay dearly for every bit of grief she has put my pack through. And when that happens, if you’re going to try and stop me, then we _will_ be enemies. I hope that is clear.”

Euphemia scoffed. “Why do you think I’m here? I wouldn’t be caught dead cooperating with police, and that was the last straw for me. Rei may be my girlfriend, but I’m not a fucking _tool._ She seems so sure about what she’s doing, and I’m not going to be a part of it anymore. I’ve always fought for the best interests of my people and I’ll continue to do just that. And believe me, _if_ she’s still got more in her after she’s through with _me_ , she’s all yours.”

“Fine,” Umi conceded, having all the information she needed. “Don’t leave the neighborhood. You’re not entirely off scott-free yet.”

And with that, she turned to Eli, gesturing up the stairs so they could have a bit of privacy away from the chaos downstairs.

Tentatively Eli followed, her mind anywhere but there in the moment. Understandably, the information she received from Euphemia was both relieving and alarming. 

“You know, when I first adopted you into the pack,” Umi began in a whisper when they were standing in the hall outside of Honoka’s room where Hanayo was asleep. “I was envious of you. I always wished that I could be as strong as you—I wished that I could work as hard as you did, day in and out fighting the beast within.”

If Eli was listening, it didn’t appear that way. Still, even though Eli hadn’t met her eyes yet, she knew that she was somewhat present, and that faith alone allowed her to continue. 

“Being a werewolf was always a part of me. I’m amazingly privileged and because of that, I could have never understood feral turned werewolves until I met you.”

Eli’s brow twitched at that, but otherwise no response. 

“You talked about your dreams to me… about your dancing career, about your life back in Russia… I wanted to work equally as hard with you so that you could have all of that back.” Umi looked down to the floor solemnly. “That was two years ago. And I’m amazed at how much you’ve changed. And I want you to know that just because we’re down and hurting right now, that doesn’t change how much you have grown and learned, mistakes and all. You managed to take Toujou-san back to her apartment… that’s a long way. Concentrating and maintaining that stamina… only you could have done it, Eli. I think your feral instinct kicked in when you smelled other wolves encroaching on Toujou-san’s apartment and you slipped on your control. It couldn’t have been your fault otherwise and I don’t want you to beat yourself up about it. She’s alright, after all. You didn’t hurt her.”

When Umi’s eyes returned to Eli, her heart ached to see that her eyes, though betraying no emotion, were starting to sting with tears. Eli’s lips pressed tightly together before she met Umi’s gaze, the first of a steady stream spilling over and running down a cheek. “I should be _proud,_ then? Of the fact that I could have _killed_ her but didn’t, and that I must have scared her so much that she doesn’t ever want to see me again?” Eli’s volume had very little consideration for what was occurring beyond the walls of the hall, and it seemed to even be filling up the space more and more with caged emotions being let free. “Should I tell Alisa that as well, then? I bet she’d be _thrilled_ to hear that too!” 

Umi’s expression didn’t change as she took the brunt of Eli’s hurt words without a second thought—she would do anything for Eli, after all, even take those awful words and still look her in her eyes. 

“No. I didn’t say you needed to be proud of this mistake,” Umi corrected, even and calm. “We’re all in pain right now. The Eli I know continues on even through trepidation and that’s why I look up to you. You could have given in two years ago. You could have resigned to this cursed fate and lost any responsibility you had tied with that affliction. But the fact that you take the mistakes of the beast and call them your own only means that you are more human than any of us. That’s why you have to stay strong.”

After a pause, Umi continued. “Toujou-san may be afraid of you. But she knows more than she lets on. I think she’s understanding and level minded. That’s why she couldn’t be afraid of you, Eli the person. If she’s afraid of Eli the beast, then let her be. You’re still afraid of it, too, after all. And that is conquerable. I just wish we had more time to work...” _More time with Honoka._

Umi had never stopped feeling empty like half the person she was whenever Honoka wasn’t there. It’s an awful feeling. She looked down and away. 

Eli looked like she wanted to say a hundred more things, but none of them came to the surface. She wiped her cheek with her sleeve, refocusing herself to bring down her voice. “Please excuse me.” She didn’t look at Umi again as she moved past her, her footfalls on the staircase quiet enough but like cracks of thunder to her own ears. 

Umi nodded. Eli needed time. That was a luxury they didn’t have now, but if she can give her this time to be alone and contemplate what she had said, then it was more than plenty than what she felt like she could give her. 

The hours ticked by and Umi was sitting on the step up into the house and staring blankly out at the shop front. She bit her lips and couldn’t stop herself from shaking her leg in a fit of impatience as she listens to the commotion of the living room. 

Umi listened so intently, she can tell how things were going. Honoka was strong—though she handled the pain well in consciousness, Kotori and Nico aided in keeping her under with magic, which kept a majority of their focus. 

Maki must have been a skilled doctor, performing surgery in the middle of a living room. Umi wondered if she craved Honoka’s blood at all. The thought made her uneasy but she shoved them away. As long as Umi could hear and was within a short distance, it was an impossibility for Maki to try something so foolish. 

The longer the time stretched on, the more sick she felt. She wondered how long Honoka could keep this up and she desperately prayed for her recovery. 

Then, it was calm. Hushed conversation was shared between Maki and the Kousakas, but Umi was too afraid to try and pick out words. 

Someone stepped out and she stood abruptly, turning over her shoulder to see Kotori standing in the hall looking right at her. 

Was Honoka alright? Was she… gone? Umi was too addled in her mind to actually ask these dire questions as she stared back at Kotori, feeling so empty as she awaited what she had to say. 

Then, there it was. It was small, but Kotori gave Umi a delicate, hopeful smile. 

It was a relief, but Umi couldn’t so easily shake herself of the blame. If she had been more understanding, this would have never happened. 

Umi was downcast, but she did her best not to show it. “Thank you. For everything,” she murmured, genuine albeit tired. 

Kotori nodded, sighing in her own display of relief. “She needs rest, but she’s stable. They’ll take turns watching her throughout the night just in case, but you out of anyone need a good night’s rest.” Kotori looked towards the wall that separated the both of them and where Honoka rested, her hands threading and unthreading together. “I should return home, though. My parents are waiting for me, and they must be worried sick since my phone died a while ago...”

“Right,” Umi responded curtly. Stable. Honoka was stable… She was thankful. But it was too soon to celebrate. “I should do the same. I’m hardly welcomed here right now, with what grief I’ve already put her and her family through.”

“Please don’t say things like that, Sonoda-san…”

At her side, a vibration pulled her attention away. Umi looked down swiftly at her unveiled phone. It was her father calling. 

Umi closed her eyes hard, gripping onto the phone so tightly, it was a wonder it didn’t shatter in her palm. She turned away with a terse, “please excuse me” to Kotori before she went out front and took the call. 

“My apologies for failing to contact you earlier, father, I’ve been watching after—“

 _“Get home. Now.”_ Takeo curtly cut her off. 

Umi stood looking blankly out at the dark street, frozen in place as her cold and even eyes scrolled over the phone display. He hung up. 

She calmly closed her eyes, though she was a raging tempest underneath her skin. She pocketed her phone and looked over her shoulder at the shop. Kotori was standing at the doorway, looking unsure of what to do as she regarded her with a look of worry. 

“I have to go,” Umi said simply. It wasn’t a question whether or not she considered the demand an option. “I don’t have anything to say to the Kousakas but I’m sorry. But they don’t want to hear it right now. Have a good night, Minami-san.”

With that, she turned without waiting for her to respond and disappeared from sight. 

——

“I’m a little tied up over here, but I shouldn’t be much longer. There’s only so much I can do before she just has to heal on her own.”

Maki leaned against the wall outside of the bakery, staring blankly out to the lowly lit, empty streets with a phone receiver pressed to her ear. This was a residential area mostly, so the rumbling of protests and gatherings was farther off. Maybe once or twice she noticed someone darting from one side of the street to the other, which was suspicious to say the least. Even if they were taking advantage of the situation and doing something like looting, she didn’t care as long as they didn’t approach her. She had too many problems to deal with as it was.

 _“We can still cover for you in your absence,”_ Tsubasa assured her. _“There are about forty more people who have taken refuge here since we had last spoken. I know that there have been a few who have expressed wishes to hear from you. It seems as if you’ve gathered a bit of a following.”_

Maki let out a one beat laugh. Suddenly it was as if she had put in as much work for her community as Umi and Kotori had for theirs. She had no noble drive before any of this happened, and she didn’t think she would even think of it as such now. At the very least, it was an alliance of convenience. “I’ll check in later if there are any updates. It seems like we’re all playing a waiting game, now. Watching and figuring out how we’re going to move from here is all we can really do.”

 _“A most burdensome wait,”_ Tsubasa commented. _“We have no choice but to do the same it seems.”_

Maki hummed noncommittally, suddenly feeling more exhausted than she had in ages. 

There was a moment of silence on the other side of the line. If that was it, she was sure Tsubasa would have hung up by now. Maki waited a little longer before Tsubasa continued on.

_“My thoughts will be with Kousaka-san and her family. And you, as well. You’ll need the rest too.”_

The shuffling of footsteps inside piqued her attention. She could hear the sharp stab of frustration in every thud and her stomach soured at the thought of a confrontation with _her_. Who else would stomp around like such a brat, after all. 

The front door slid open and Nico stepped out into the night air, a deep furrow in her brows as she made to slam the door behind her but seemed to retain some semblance of respect and manners as she closed it slowly. Her crimson eyes settled on her before she scoffed. “So this is where you’ve been hiding. I’m surprised you're sticking around.”

Maki hung up without saying anything more, sliding her phone back in her pocket and setting her blank stare back out to the street. She was _not_ in the mood. “ _Someone_ has to be the responsible one around here. Your track records really aren’t the cleanest.”

“No one asked you. Really. You don't have to feel inconvenienced any more. No one will be upset if you go,” Nico bit back, though the intended edge in her voice was mostly absent and replaced by the throws of exhaustion. 

Maki entertained the cruel comment. Maybe it was true that they would be indifferent about her departure, since practically everyone was engulfed in their own serious problems. Something about that didn't settle right with her, though. It left a bitter feeling in her stomach, one that she couldn't quite pinpoint. Jealousy couldn't be it, but that was the closest thing she could akin it to. It wasn't like anything she had experienced before. 

The fact that Nico had the gall to say something like that after all that they had been through was really plucking at the final straws of her tolerance.

“What’s your fucking malfunction, anyway?” Maki shot, eyes narrowing. “For argument’s sake, let’s pretend like I didn’t take all of you in, help with Honoka’s injuries, or, I don’t know, _save your life._ ” She turned full on to Nico now, her stance rigid. “What have I done to you other than maybe bitch at you a little?”

Nico didn’t look like she was expecting backlash of this magnitude. She immediately turned defensive, a fiery look sparking her eyes. “You’re making me sound like a dumb ingrate. Sorry if you’re missing a pat on your back or two for doing the right damn thing. Everything’s been a little hectic, so if I seem like an asshole, it’s because I’m coping as a victim of circumstance! So stop pretending like this is about you because it isn’t!” Nico shot back, her words pinching up as her frustration spilled forth. She sighed raggedly and leaned against the door, her back falling as she shrunk into a squat, her arms crossing over her knees. “It isn’t about you at all…” she trailed off as the fire in her eyes dissipated into a crestfallen shell of her previous self.

Maki had been so prepared to stoke fire with more fire, but what Nico had said had just soundly confused her. She was well aware that this entire thing was larger than herself, but something so superficial couldn’t have possibly been what had been upsetting Nico. Maki retraced her words, and while she didn’t regret what she said, she felt like there was still some sort of mass misunderstanding. “It’s hard on everyone,” Maki finally replied, still firm but much less confrontational. She meant to have something more to add on, but she was guessing at what might really be troubling her. 

Maki thought back to the apartment earlier in the day, her lips turning into a frown. Nico didn’t acknowledge her, staring at the ground with a heavy expression. When she didn’t reply, Maki’s eyes also fell. 

Maki was starting to formulate an idea for what was happening. “Hey,” she started much softer, drawing her eyes out to the road. “I can’t pretend like I know what you’re all going through. I’ve never had to worry about missing friends or family.” That was partly because she could count the people she trusted on one hand. And they were all vampires at that, so they were all fully capable of handling themselves. 

But she wouldn’t mention that. “I do see my folks just a few weeks out of the year because of their jobs, though, so I’m no stranger to the absence of loved ones or even the loneliness that comes from it.” She leaned her back against the wall, returning to her relaxed position from before. “We all act in stupid ways when our anchors aren’t around. It’s hard to get shit done when you can’t operate at your best. So I get it.”

The laugh that sounded from Nico was short and humorless. “Yeah, you get that much. It’s just that… it’s just…” Nico hesitated as she stumbled over her words. A short sigh fell past her lips as she ran a hand through her bangs. “Fuck, if you're so understanding now, maybe I really won't sound like a complete idiot if I tell you. But it's still so fucking cringey that I’d rather just forget it.”

Maki looked back to her skeptically, completely losing confidence in any of her guesses. So it wasn’t related to any of that? “Okay, I have no idea what you’re talking about then.” 

“Yeah, I should definitely just forget it. For the sake of my pride—or whatever’s left of it.”

Maki wanted to roll her eyes, finding herself becoming more and more indifferent to this entire ordeal. “Look, I doubt anything would be that surprising to me after a busy day of stopping a small-scale war, being impaled by a street post, _and_ saving a half-dead werewolf.”

Nico scoffed. “It’s not anything you don’t already know, okay? I’ve acted like an ass to you but I don’t need to tell you that.”

“What are you trying to say already? Just spit it out,” Maki pressed, her irritation starting to seep through again. 

“I’m trying to say that I fucked up with you before I ever gave myself a chance!” Nico snapped back, regaining a bit of her edge as she looked up to her with a sneer on her face. “It’s fucking embarrassing how I bumped into you and made a sloppy joke out of myself. It’s like one really pretty girl finally gives me the attention I deserve and I manage to fuck it up to the moon and back.”

There was a long pause as Maki absorbed what had just been confessed. Any aggravation that she was holding onto suddenly became so incredibly ridiculous. Maki’s fixed glare laxed and passed through Nico, the reality of the situation completely flipping on its head. She may have been less than satisfied with how that night had transpired, but she had already begun to dismiss it as a one-night-stand gone awry. Nothing was supposed to come of it, and she had thought that it was transparent enough that that was the case.

The way that Nico had approached the entire meeting hinted at as much, anyway. How was Maki supposed to know that she may have had more motives past the ones that were so incredibly transparent in her state of intoxication? Granted, Maki had designated Nico a commodity long before she even knew her name. When faced with this new information, it made her feel a little disgusted with herself. She never liked being forced to face the realities of some of her actions, and something like this was the _exact_ reason that she tried to keep her distance from her past partners.

Maki swore under her breath, tousling her hair with a hand. How is it that she had been morally challenged more in the span of a day than she had in her entire life? The bottom line was that she was just as responsible for the entire thing as Nico was. Neither of them were free from blame. “You’re acting like you gave me some real reason to hate you or something. I mean, you sounded and acted like you knew what you were doing, so I just went with it. Maybe you were a bit of a hot mess, but there’s no way that that defines you.” She wasn’t even sure of what she was trying to say, sighing and shrugging. “In fact, I think the both of us made some decisions that we can’t really be proud of.”

“Thanks for that. You’re actually a decent person after all, Nishikino.” Nico looked back down and rested her chin on her knees. “I acted the way I did because I thought that's what I wanted. And it was, really. I wanted to have fun and not care about anyone but myself. But I hate how the more I’ve gotten to know what kind of person you are, the more I realize that I’ve struck out. I wouldn't have hated getting to know someone like you. Like. Seriously. Without all this awful shit that's happened. So that's why I’m mad and on my worst possible behavior. I’m really angry at myself, so everyone gets my shit. The wolves included. Also doesn't help that my best friend is still missing and I feel utterly useless like a bother to everyone in the whole damn world,” Nico muttered and grimaced. “God, it’s worse than I could have ever imagined finally having said that all out loud. If I haven't already committed social suicide, consider that the nail in the coffin.”

Maki exhaled in a quick gust, somewhat trying to fight the grin that was growing on her face. “The true character assassination here is the fact that we’re even having this discussion,” she commented, crossing her arms. “We’re both incredibly stubborn. I’ve gathered as much anyway. But at the very least we can cut the petty bullshit so we can focus on things that matter. For now, anyway.” She paused, her arms tightening across her chest. “So… maybe when this is all dealt with, we should…” She paused, knowing well what she wanted to suggest but suddenly stopped from saying it out loud. 

Maki stammered the beginnings of a few words, but none were executed coherently. She had never been as direct as she was trying to be, and it was irking every bone in her body. She didn’t _want_ to admit that she thought Nico wasn’t a terrible person, or even that she wanted to get to know her a little, too. “W-we have been through so much shit already, so I think it goes without saying that we could use a restart after all of this. Or something.” Maki felt her heart leap up into her throat when she finished the sentence, forcing herself to turn away from Nico so that she couldn’t catch how flustered she had become.

The silence that followed was to be expected. Maki heard Nico stand and grunt.

“Everyone wants to see Nico Nii at her best, so it can’t be helped that we’re long due for a retry. Just… don’t expect me to still try and act like everything’s okay until then. The moment we say we’re gonna start over, all this embarrassing shit stays behind us. It’s easier that way.”

“That’s fine with me,” Maki replied without turning back to her. 

There’s a sense of gratification and peace that settled between them that carried throughout the night.


	21. For the Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another update!! this chapter has been written for a long damn time and i’m finally excited to get around to posting it. hopefully it comes off as strongly as i’ve pictured it. lemme kno if it does!! thank you!

The sun sunk low in the sky, the clouds stained a weary orange that gave way into the engulfing purples of a long night. 

Heavy guilt still weighed on Umi as she forced her legs up the last steps of the walkway. Subtle panic brewed underneath her even facade, her chest tight as she tried to find purchase on an explanation for everything that had happened within the past 24 hours concerning her whereabouts. She took a deep breath in and closed her eyes before the door, trying to find the place she always withdrew to whenever she steeled her mind. 

However, her deep breaths brought no comfort and her place of tranquility was barred away in the recesses of her mind–barred by the images of Honoka hurt and bleeding on the floor and Eli cowered into a corner as if her own skin haunted her. The absence of Rin was all the more terrifying, her mind conjuring twisted demises for what might have befallen her.

Umi exhaled a part of herself, her hands pressing into her face and her fingers rubbing harshly at her tired eyes. She ran both of her hands through her hair and lifted her chin up, feeling more empty than she had in a very long time. She slid open the door and stepped into the unlit greeting area. Everything was remarkably still. She looked around without expression, closing the door behind her, the orange of the setting sun snuffing out to black.

Upstairs, she heard a flurry of commotion. Many footsteps stamped around, the clatter of things being moved accentuating each pair of pattering feet. 

“I’m home,” she said under her breath as she methodically took off her shoes and stepped up onto the hardwood floor, brows pulling into a deep furrow as she tried to decipher what it was she was hearing. As she headed for the stairs, she stopped dead in her tracks and stared into the nearly empty living room. Boxes stacked high lined the walls, all intricacies of the decorations that usually spanned the walls packed away and the furniture pushed all into one corner. A fresh surge of panic chilled through her. 

She took off quickly towards the stairs, sparing a look into the kitchen that was also packed away and dark. She hazarded a guess that the other rooms downstairs were already given a similar treatment. Dizzy with confusion, she stomped up the stairs and headed straight to the first open guest living room—packed away and waiting. An iron knot of dread formed in her throat.

Umi turned and stopped as she glanced down the hallway of her house. Numerous attendants darted back and forth, dismantling everything that was in the walkway and sorting them into boxes. 

She lost any semblance of her composure and shoved through the hallway, the attendants making noises of surprise as they barely noticed her presence and scrambled to get out of her way.

She stepped in front of her father’s study, her hand shaking as she threw the door open and closed it firmly behind her.

“You seem to be forgetting your manners, Umi.”

Umi looked up, eyes caught by a single lamplight on its side illuminating the length of a tatami mat that laid flat across the floor. Just out of the light’s reach, a plain white porcelain bottle was placed down with a muted thud. Takeo sat leaning against a cardboard box with one leg extended and one bent at the knee. A matching porcelain cup was nestled in his hand, tilted slightly due to the angle of his forearm that was propped onto his knee. His other hand tucked into the flap of his loose yukata, his cold coal eyes watching her pointedly. 

She swallowed hard past the knot in her throat and came forward a few steps, easing down onto her knees and bowing her head, eyes drawing down. “What is going on, father?”

A steady silence followed. Umi looked up as Takeo tilted the top of his cup towards him, taking his time with the answer as he inspected its contents lazily. “I have friends in France that have offered me a nice plot of real estate time and time again throughout the years. Should ever a time rise that Japan could no longer hold my family, I’ve always kept it in mind as a place for us to fall back. So I’ve made the arrangements. We’ll be out of the country by Monday.”

The confirmation of her fears caused a sickening wave of nausea to turn her stomach. Umi trembled, feeling the panic loosening the threads of her composure. “We can't. You can't. Yo-you’re willing to throw away all of this work? Everything that we’ve done here?”

“I will if it means protecting my family,” he replied simply. 

“What about _my_ family? You would have me leave them here? You would have me abandon them?!”

“Watch your tongue,” he said sharply, the drunken slur in his voice becoming noticeable as he spoke. “I’ve let you run too freely as it is. Gave you too much room to betray me. You’ve so easily forgotten what it means to live in this house. What it means to have pride.”

He pulled out an orange envelope from his yukata and tossed it low towards her. She watched as it slid across the floor, its contents slipping out and skidding to a stop just in front of her. Umi felt her heart leap up to her throat and choke her. She tasted salt on the back of her tongue as she pulled out the top print, knowing unmistakably where this was taken and racking her mind as of how it was possible. 

It was a picture from the night of the party. It was her standing out on the balcony at Nishikino’s, standing incriminatingly close to Kotori. She was leaned down towards her, speaking in a hushed, secretive manner. They were close enough to be mistaken for anything the imagination desired. She placed it down slowly, feeling strangely cold and out of her own body as she rifled through the other photos of her and Kotori. The times that they were taken were spread throughout their various meetings, the angles discreet and invasive. 

“I thought I had raised you better. I had told you well over a thousand times to stay away from witches. To imagine you’ve been blatantly disrespecting me this entire time—betraying our entire family and what we have been through. I’ve wondered constantly where I’ve gone wrong, but it's obvious when I think about it simply.”

Umi placed the photos down, feeling sick as her body remained semi-unresponsive. She was at a loss of what to do. 

“Where is mother?” she found her lips forming, uncertain if she could handle the prospect of both of her parents feeling shame at the contents of the envelope. 

“It doesn't matter. She isn't here. I won't be swayed this time into being talked away from my predispositions,” he answered emotionlessly. Takeo shuffled where he sat, placing his cup down next to the bottle before he rolled his shoulders, straightening out the front of his yukata. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

Umi failed to respond right away. Under the weight of all of her worst possible fears being realized so closely together, she felt like a rag doll being dragged through this awful fate. She felt as though nothing she could say mattered but she had to say _something._ All of the damage had already been done. Her chest hurt and her throat began to burn as she held back the crushing frustration and fear and hurt. 

So she did the only thing that she saw fit in that moment. She sagged in defeat, both of her palms pressing flat against the floor. Then she bowed deeply, harshly shoving her forehead into the floor as her eyes screwed tightly shut. “Please forgive me, father! I have no right to ask anything of you, I know. I don't deserve it, but I must ask for more time! I can't leave Japan now. Everything I have done has been for the best of my family—everything I do is _religiously_ governed by what you have taught me. But my family isn't just those of us who live in this house! Please understand! Please!”

Takeo’s voice raised as Umi’s did. “I will NOT stand by as you parade around in this dangerous country making a fool of me and the Sonoda name! I have said what I have needed to say and my word is final! Gather your things _now_. We leave _tonight!”_

Umi’s world slowed as she was faced with an obstacle that she knew she could never overcome with words alone. Her father was the most stubborn man she knew. He was an impermeable force of power that has governed every aspect of her life. 

_Pride. Disrespect. Betrayal._ It was jarring for Umi to hear her father say those words as she looked back at the pictures of her and Kotori. She could tell by the looks on their faces that in any other context these simply looked like outings with two friends, or even something closer—Kotori with that sly smirk while she teased her, the unwavering attention she gave Umi as she was listening intently, or the smile that Kotori had, so warm that she put the very sun to shame…

How could their friendship be considered a betrayal? The only betrayal she felt was from her very own father in that she had found such a beautiful, intelligent woman to be friends with. But the fact that she was of a name and a group that he had detested, he had already immediately dismissed what made her uniquely Kotori. He had not learned from her all of the things that Umi had, had not heard all of her tales, her hopes, her dreams—he had not heard her laugh, her kind words, her dedication to positive change for the both of their peoples... 

Umi couldn’t stand by and hear him imply that Kotori was someone _rotten,_ a seething hot pit of anger boiling in her stomach. 

She couldn't go now. Not with Honoka hurt. Not with Eli hurt. Not with Rin and Nozomi missing. She realized then that her family had gotten so much bigger since she had last checked. She had so many people counting on her. Kotori was counting on her. The consequences of what she wanted to do _terrified_ her. But she let the rage and her own stubbornness straighten her spine and bring her to stand. She shook with fury, her heart hammering uncontrollably in her chest. “You’re wrong about her. And you’ve been wrong your entire life. _I’ve_ been wrong.”

Takeo watched her, a deep furrow in his brow as he rose his chin, his eyes pressing to slits. He began to push himself to his feet. _“What?”_ he challenged, matching her volume dangerously. 

“I’m not leaving,” Umi managed in a calmness that practically painted how insane she felt right now. 

At his full height, he was imposing. The obedient daughter in her told her to shrink down and submit, but she battled that urge and kept her ground. Her next actions made her legs sway and her mind buzz. 

“You would further disobey me?”

“Yes,” she choked, summoning her courage with the simmering determination that she had to see things done right by her hand. “You have worked your whole life for all werewolves… and the time where we would need someone like you the most, you would rather flee? I’ve put my heart towards the same goal, and along the way I have even made friends who were different than myself, and it has taught me that we cannot accomplish equality on our own. We must bond with others in our same position in order to liberate all of us. That includes witches. So why must you be like this? Have we not always been ready to fight for our people like this, where it matters the most?”

Takeo scoffed. “Such beliefs only exist in fairytales. It is naïve to believe that truly all wolves can be equal, let alone all _witches_ and _bloodsuckers_. You should know that better than anyone. Your upbringing, your education, and even the roof you live under is testament to the nonexistent equality that you dream of. Our blood has always been here because of the actions of the few, our predecessors, that have _ensured_ that we would be here. No country has been made without building on the backs of lessers. We are no exception. The only reason lesser wolves are viewed with even a _sliver_ of respect is that our own blood has shown others what pride and success looks like for us.”

_...What?_

Umi couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Y-you can’t mean…” she half-whispered, nearly losing her voice. “You have _lied_ to our people about fighting for them to… to preserve _yourself?”_

“ _Ourselves,_ ” he corrected. “Our family. It is the simple governance of the survival of the fittest that ensures that we as Sonodas can continue our family legacy. It is about time that you woke up from your impossible utopia to embrace the reality of our world.”

It couldn’t be true. All of his talk of progress and equality was so that they could maintain a status quota that kept them on top, separated them from the other wereanimals, and ensured that they lived a cushy life not worrying about the same things that other wereanimals did.

Umi was beyond hurt at this confession. Her world was not just a utopia that existed in a fantasy. She had dreamed it since she was small and had even started to see it when she met Kotori, when she started to study social justice, and when she saw her father giving his inspiring speeches. Now more than ever she had felt closer to the world that she had always wanted to see, and her largest role model had been deceiving her all along. 

“I should have stopped you from swaying when I had the chance,” Takeo confessed. “Before you brought _mutts_ under our name and before you marred our values that we have so carefully crafted over generations. Before you turned that _girl.”_

...He was referring to Honoka, her greatest _friend and ally,_ she realized. He would slander her name as well?

No… that was it. That was the last straw.

Umi’s fingernails sunk deep into her palms. That single comment would send her over the edge. “You have been stuck here in this house, too blinded and caged down by the histories of our family that you refuse to see any possibility outside of this sphere that you have gotten so comfortable with. Our history has repeated itself time and time again and we are without forward change because of the ignorance that _thrives_ in our bloodline. If you remain so closed off, then there's nothing that you can do to help anyone you want to help. I especially don't need your help because I don't need this backwards-moving family. You have chained me down just as you were chained down and I will allow it no longer!”

The anger that flashed in his eyes was unlike any she had seen from him before. “How dare you speak to me like that!”

Umi stepped back, wanting to scream out her frustrations in full but she knew she had to go. 

The only things that had mattered to her has been stripped away so easily. There felt like no winning, no redemption, no escape, no easy way out. So she ran. She ran harder than she had in a long time, her throat thick and tears burning at the corners of her eyes as she dashed out of the house and to nowhere. 

The sun had set. She didn't know how long she had been running. Sweat clung to her entire body and her lungs burned in protest, her legs on fire as she continued to press through the active streets, finding that the pain was a welcomed relief next to the torture of these past days. She could hardly breath past her crying and panting. 

The corners of her vision threatened to go black and her legs started to give out on her. She veered off the streets and found refuge in a park as she slumped against a tree. She tasted salt on her tongue, and her heart and her heaves for breath unbelievably loud in her ears. She looked around, recognizing the name of the street she was standing on. 

She was close… 

Umi took out her phone and checked the time, her watery eyes hurting as she looked to the bright display. She couldn't go back to Homura bakery. Eli’s place was far from here. Home was obviously out of the question. There was only one other place she could think of going to at a time like this, though she had never actually been there personally. 

She composed an email, knowing she wouldn't get a response right away, given the time, but she would be using that time to scent out how to get to her destination and pressed send. 

_Please be there and be safe,_ she thought solemnly as she wiped her face and started off into a shaky jog through the neighborhood.


	22. Over Orchard Walls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we honestly can't stress enough how sweet you reviewers have been. it's one of our sole motivating factors to getting this out to you, so thank you so much!! without further ado, bring back my girls!!

The textures of the deep forest under her paws sounded in a muted rhythm that matched the pace of her feral heart.

Rin belonged here. She felt the most safe here in the forest. There was no social landscape to navigate, no trickery or lies, no confusing questions of right or wrong. So far from the chaos of Tokyo, everything continued on as it always has been before humans populated the countryside.

Yes, this is where Rin felt the most herself. After all of the work she had put with Umi, this was the hard stuck truth: she didn’t belong in society. She was too messed up to truly be human. Rei was right about everything, as much as Rin hated to admit it.

She hoped everyone would understand. She hoped that Hanayo was safe and had found Umi, after all. There was no way she would ever know. But soon enough, she wouldn’t know anything when she reverted to her most primal self and lost all of her humanity. There was comfort in that thought, as selfish as it was.

Rin’s stomach clenched and she realized she should go hunting soon. The faster she got to focusing on her most basic needs, the faster the transition back to the animal she was would commence.

So, Rin hunted. She tracked a hare through the brush, her footfalls completely silent as she neared her prey.

She bounded through the trees and had the hare trapped in between her jaws within the hour. The poor thing made a shrill noise and it had been so long since Rin had hunted, it struck her with a pang of shock that she had hurt this creature. She was a kind person, after all. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt anyone or anything.

Her jaw became lax out of reflex as it kicked in between her fangs for its life and wriggled free before it escaped with harmless pricks in its pelt, darting through the forest ground and out of sight.

Rin couldn’t even be a bobcat right. She yowled her frustrations, wanting so desperately to _forget_ her humanity and the mistakes she had wrought. It looked like she wouldn’t be eating until then.

Rin roamed for what was hours, ears perked up and alert, though her mind was elsewhere. She tried to take in the scent of the trees, the gust of the fall wind, and the dissipation of the sun’s warmth from the sky. These things would bring her closer to her animal spirit. These things were far removed from who she was as a person.

There was a scuttle of movement that drew her interest. The sharp sting of smoke wafted in the air and Rin felt a pinch of worry that a fire could be brewing up in her new permanent home.

She honed in on the noise, keeping her footfalls silent as she stalked forth.

Rin peaked out with sharp eyes into a clearing. A man, a woman, and a teenager were huddled around a campfire, bundled up in warm clothes. A tent was pitched up close by, flanked by trees and well hidden within the dense foliage of the forest.

They looked miserable. Rin assumed they were a family as was immediately content with leaving them be—they were just probably trying to find peace in trying times away from the city. They even looked well off with their supplies, as if this had been long planned. Rin shifted backwards to turn away when a snap on the other side of the clearing drew her eyes back to the campsite.

She could see with her piercing vision what the family could not as they spun around in the direction of the sound: a werewolf, eyes gleaming as it weaved through the trees, eyes set on its own brand of prey.

Rin knew the look—the hunger, the ferocity. She had gleaned it in her own face in her reflection before she regained her senses. She knew the danger that this family was in. And she had acted before she could even think.

She shot forward into the clearing just as the werewolf did. The family didn’t have time to react in anything more but screams.

They collided, Rin’s claws prepared for the larger body of the bipedal werewolf. She had played and wrestled plenty of times with Umi, Honoka, and Eli. She knew well how to hold up against the hulking mass of something bigger and stronger than her.

But this was real and she was afraid, but she needed to protect these people.

An ugly snarl ripped through the air and the flurry of claws and teeth were blinding to human eyes, but Rin’s sharp and heightened senses made her hyper aware of the swipes of sharp claws and snaps of powerful jaws that tried to close around her neck. Her adrenaline made her strangely calm as she battled on even ground with this werewolf, who was caught off guard by her sudden appearance.

The werewolf must have decided that this hunt wasn’t worth the trouble. It shook its body vigorously, growling and sneering at her as they stood off and circled each other after parting with minimal injuries on both sides, and then it disappeared.

Rin collapsed back onto her rump, heart thundering in the cage of her chest.

She turned back to see the family staring in awe at what had transpired. The man held a shovel and the woman, a metal stake with dirt caked on the end.

“Are you…? You’re a werecat, aren’t you?” The man asked, winded.

Rin couldn’t remove her eyes from the improvised weapons they handled. Her ears flicked back as she nodded her head.

The amazement in all of their eyes drew her attention to each of their faces: alit in awe.

“We could have died without you… thank you.”

Rin’s stump of a tail tucked close to her body as she hissed her frustration. _But I’m the same. That will be me attacking you if you stay here!_ She thought. But there was no way to convey her words. It was even difficult for her to communicate with Umi and the others when transformed, let alone with three strangers.

She needed to stop thinking about her ex-pack—she would never forget if she related everything back to them.

“Why don’t you stay for dinner? We have to thank you… though it isn’t safe around here anymore, we know that because of you. That is invaluable to me because my family is everything to me. Please consider this as gratitude for what you have done.”

Why weren’t they afraid? After what they had just witnessed, she was a dangerous animal.

“These really are our most trying times. No one and nowhere is safe, even for you,” the woman continued off of the man’s words. “We all have to help each other out in order to get through all of this. Protecting and understanding each other is all we really have right now, you know?”

For a long moment, Rin stared at the family, contemplating those words. Protecting and understanding? Is that the common ground between wereanimals and humans? It was jarring to think about something like that among the wild countryside. Surely, survival of the fittest was one of the most cruel laws of the natural world. It didn’t care for the weaker and didn’t see the worth or potential in every living being.

But humans… humans are one of the only species who aren’t like that. They defy survival of the fittest because they can, because they look out for one another and replicate the means to always do so. They’ve learned companionship and compassion that has made bonds so strong that they would do anything for each other. While there were rotten humans out there, there _were_ selfless beings that would put someone’s well being before their own. She knew of mothers of many species who were of that same vein, too, but human mothers when they dedicate themselves to their children… nothing in nature could compare.

Rin realized that _this_ was the largest reason why she had let that hare go. It must have a family of its own that it has to feed and protect. There is meaning in that life, because the lives of its babies also have the right to live too. Who would Rin be to take that away?

Animals do not not make that difference. Those with _humanity_ do. _That_ was what separated Rin from an animal.

The realization was overwhelming. She shook where she stood, her legs trembling. Rei was wrong. She had always been wrong. And she needed to find Hanayo and her sisters.

“Are you okay…?” the teen asked, catching onto how shaken Rin was.

A new burst of energy zapped through her. She couldn’t stay for dinner; she had her own family to protect. Quickly she bounded up to the girl and brushed against her, much to her surprise.

 _Thank you, thank you!_ Rin wanted to say, even if they don’t fully understand what they did to deserve it. The girl giggled, petting Rin’s back for a moment before Rin moved on to do the same with the man and woman before she left them, all a little confused but strangely content, and bolted off.

* * *

Kotori sat alone at the table that would usually be occupied by both her and her parents. They had already expressed their apologies and excused themselves for the evening, out doing whatever they could for the state of the country.

Having hardly touched her dinner herself, Kotori departed the dinner table early, as well. She was still very much absorbing what all of the recent events meant for her family and their country, and she was sure it was on everyone’s minds, Umi and her sisters included.

After heading back up to her room, she plopped down onto her bed, sighing as she rolled onto her back and pulled out her cell phone and powered it on, worried about Umi and hoping for an update from her about Honoka.

Instead, a distressing email sat in her inbox. She looked at the time she received it. It was before dinner and she didn't notice. She always turned it off before dinner and on after. It read: _I’m sorry to be a bother. Something happened. Are you home?_

It must have been something important if Umi was asking her if she was here. In light of everything that had transpired lately, Kotori truly feared the worst. Could she be on her way now? She sat up and hurriedly typed a response.

_Yes, I’m home. What’s wrong?_

Could it be Honoka? She was stable when she had left the bakery earlier that day.

Not even thirty seconds later, a reply dropped into her digital inbox.

_Is it alright if I come in?_

Kotori hesitated, staring at the message on the screen with furrowing brows. She looked around her room in confusion. How did Umi plan on coming in without her staff knowing?

“Ucchi-chan…?” she whispered aloud and projected her voice to her familiar, who was outside.

The owl’s voice spoke gently into her mind. _Sonoda-san is sitting under your window._

“Oh,” was her reply, looking from her email to the window a few times. Wait, how long had she been outside of her window for?

Kotori hopped up quickly, discarding her phone onto her covers and moving to draw the curtains, looking down.

There she was—her back pressed against the outside wall and her knees bent. She tilted her head back slowly, the phone screen light in her hand blinking off. It was so dark, she could hardly see her. Umi shifted to stand, balancing carefully on the roof tiles and making very little noise as she crouched and craned up to the window.

How did she even get up there like that? There was still quite a bit of distance between the window and the second floor that surely would have discouraged anyone from thinking about scaling up its side.

Still, Kotori released the hatch on her window, slowly swinging it open and looking expectantly at her.

After a beat, Umi came to her full height and easily hoisted herself up, eyes downcast and expression tired. Kotori scrambled back and stared.

Umi quietly stepped onto the hardwood floor and looked about wordlessly, a humorless laugh leave her as she ran a frustrated hand through her bangs. “Pardon the intrusion,” she murmured. Kotori did a once over of her, seeing that she was drenched in sweat and quite disheveled—very unlike her normal self.

“Sonoda-san, you look exhausted…” Kotori started, thinking back to the nature of Umi’s messages. She clasped her hands together at her chest, squeezing nervously. “What happened?”

There was no immediate answer as Umi eased down onto the floor and slipped off her shoes, her movements slow and deliberate. She leaned back against the wall, a hand brushing the back of her neck absentmindedly. Her words were curt and mechanic. “I ran here. I had a fight with my father. He knows about you. It’s safe to assume that I’m not welcome back.”

Kotori’s eyes widened, feeling fear and shock strike her in her chest. The severity of the situation was truly beginning to settle in. Umi’s decision to come to her may have been one of the only things that she could do right now, regardless of how risky it was.

She had no words to express what she was feeling right away, not even knowing where to start. Her eyes darted around the room, troubled. “Are… are you thirsty?” Kotori asked instead, looking to Umi. “I can get you water, or even make tea if you wish,” she offered. “I have some herbal mixes that may help…” With what exactly, she wasn’t so sure of. Anything that helped should have proved to be at least somewhat useful.

Umi tilted her head to look up at her, seeming as though she was thinking in depth about the gratuity, her mouth parting as she prepared to say something. Then, her lips pressed closed and she gave a small nod after a long moment of silence.

“Okay,” Kotori replied weakly before ducking her head in a small bow and heading to the set of white, wooden sliding doors next to her bookshelf.

She entered the room and flicked the light switch on, revealing a wall of shelves filled with transparent containers of all sorts. Leaves, roots, grasses, spices, herbs, and other jarred oddities and ingredients practically covered every centimeter of shelf space. Kotori moved to one of her cupboards to fish out her kettle, bringing it under the owl-shaped water faucet to fill it.

“My father wants to move out of the country,” Umi started from the other room. “He’s ready to drop centuries of work because things have gotten too difficult and he thinks that that is the best way to protect my family—he doesn’t care about other werewolves and he never has. On top of that, Honoka is hurt. Rin is missing, along Toujou-san. Eli has completely reverted to how she was when I met her but worse and now the whole country is shrouded in chaos.” Umi said monotonously. “I let down my guard for less than five hours. That’s all it took for everything to come falling down around me. I should have seen it all coming. I should have done something about it. I should have tried harder and I should have done what was expected of me from the beginning.”

Kotori’s movements were deliberately slow as she absorbed Umi’s words, taking her time uncapping the individual containers of dried passion flower, lavender, and gotu kota. Kotori heard her stand and walk up to the doorway behind her, Umi’s eyes burning into her back. She made no movement to acknowledge her right away, humming thoughtfully and biting at her lip. There were a lot of uncertainties within the next few days and even weeks, and there was little that she could do about the state of their country. It really was terrifying.

“You really are a wonderful, caring person, Sonoda-san,” Kotori said softly, reaching into a drawer to surface a tea strainer. “But you can’t expect to hold the whole world on your shoulders. It’s not fair to you or to your loved ones.”

“I had reasonable, obvious things I should have done that I didn't. Am I really so blameless?”

Though Umi’s tone became strained, Kotori remained calm and even. “It’s not about blame.”

“What is it about, then?” Umi said just above a whisper, gaining an edge of frustration in her voice.

Kotori closed her eyes and let a breath out of her nose before turning to Umi. She was usually so guarded and tended to be tougher to read than most people, but now, Kotori could see all of her internal battles so clearly. She saw guilt and anger mixed with doubt and frustration, all perfectly valid emotions for Umi’s circumstance. _Their_ circumstance.

“We don’t have all of the pieces yet of what happened, so pointing fingers doesn’t do anything,” she finally replied. “But… I can’t begin to imagine what it feels like to have something like that happen to you, and I think it’s only natural to want to blame yourself since you’re still here.”

Kotori’s eyes dropped to Umi’s side, and she contemplated it for a moment before she took a step forward and reached to pick up Umi’s hand in hers. She looked back into her even amber eyes, unphased by the gesture. “You’ve told me what kind of people your enemies are. And if what you said was true, then the hand that you were dealt wasn’t fair to begin with.”

The hurt and anguish that knitted her brows and clouded her expression was haunting, knowing the kind of seamless, undeterred person Umi painted herself out to be. Her bangs fell in front of her watery eyes as she bowed her head, her shoulders quivering and the hand in hers tightening its grip.

A long moment passed and Umi sniffed wetly. She brought up her forearm and pressed it to her eyes hard. “I’m so tired of being strong,” her voice cracked. “I just wish I had asked for help earlier. I wish I didn't push them away at every step, thinking all the while that I was protecting them. I wish I wasn't a damned coward. The whole _fucking_ world could be falling apart, but that would be fine with me if only they were safely by my side...” she said in a hushed, resentful tone before she she let out one strangled sob, stopping herself from breathing to prevent herself from breaking down any further.

Kotori’s heart ached, that bitter hopelessness threatening tears at her own eyes. She could think of no comforting words. After all, what would bring a grieving a sister reprieve other than seeing her family well again? Kotori certainly could not give that to her, regardless of how much she may have wanted to.

So she did the only thing that she _could_ do. She stepped forward, stretching up onto her tippy toes, and threw her arms around Umi’s shoulders, pulling her down.

She remained rigid at first, but it didn’t take long for her to respond. Umi deflated completely against her, her face pressing into her shoulder as another sob wracked her body. She reached behind her and pulled Kotori tight against her, her embrace so strong it was almost suffocating. Then, she stopped holding it all back.

Umi was slightly damp from sweat, but Kotori didn’t care. She buried her face in her neck, trying hold back her own tears. She couldn’t even fathom having to act strong and independent for so long to protect the ones she loved, only to be faced with failure in the end. But if Kotori couldn’t keep it together right now, who would be strong for Umi? She wanted to show her that it was okay to be vulnerable because she didn’t always have to be the strong one.

Kotori realized that she wanted to protect Umi like she tirelessly protected her family. She may not have been as physically powerful or emotionally stalwart, but she wanted to be everything that Umi needed. She wanted to compliment every incredible thing about her in order to bring out her best self. And when she was down, Kotori wanted to be there to be a shoulder that she could lean on. To her, that was a comforting thought that banished her own insecurities. As long as she was with Umi, there wasn’t anything that they couldn’t accomplish. Only together could they overcome the barriers of familial obligations, ancient rivalries, and a country in chaos.

It was something that she struggled to put the words to until just then. Now, her feelings were clear, and it was all so transparent to her.

Kotori, as she ran her fingertips comfortingly through her long navy blue hair and let her eyes lull shut to take in everything she was feeling, realized something.

She was falling for Sonoda Umi.

Her heart drummed in her chest as she felt her throat grow tight and swallowed hard. Her fate was destined to not be an easy one and that was proving to be more and more true with each passing day. _Ucchi-chan… what do I do?_

The reply was hesitant. _That is a broad question. I have no answer. I am sorry, Minami-sama. I am to be your guide in tough situations like this, but even my wisdom runs short in times where we are tried the most. I say start with a bath and try to pick up the pieces from there. Umi-san could use a nice, relaxing break._

 _“Umi-san”?_ Kotori couldn't help the vague grin of amusement in spite of everything.

_You are not the only one who is taken with her. I like the wolf._

Flushing, Kotori didn't respond as she waited for Umi’s shoulders to still and for her choked sobs to slow. It felt like she was standing there for hours as each snivel and sob’s severity lessened in intensity and seeped into exhaustion.

Kotori’s legs were stiff. She realized she had hardly been standing, Umi was holding her so tightly to the point where she was practically picking her up.

Another long, wordless stretch of time settled between them. Umi’s arms were shaking from holding onto her for so long. Kotori had gotten used to the embrace and sorely missed it when the hold around her loosened and she eased back onto her heels.

“I’m sorry… I’ve put so much stress on you, Minami-san,” her raw voice managed as she picked up her head, her face blotchy and her eyes red and swollen as she refused to look her in her face.

Kotori wanted to tell her that she was willing to do so much more, but she reserved it for another time. “Kotori,” she corrected meekly.

“Huh?” Umi asked quietly, looking to her eyes with a soft furrow at her brow, not registering what it was that she was asking of her.

“Call me Kotori… if you want,” she added, having to be the one to break the eye contact.

“Ko—” Umi paused to clear her throat as she shuffled from foot to foot awkwardly. “Kotori. Then please call me Umi,” she said, still managing to sound profoundly formal even through her exhaustion.

Kotori smiled. “How about we talk more after tea and a bath, Umi-chan?”

A weak hum sounded from her. “... I would like nothing more.”

* * *

There was something rudimentarily grade school about tip-toeing around in her own home, hiding and ducking out view to purposely hide from their house staff. Though it was nerve-racking, Kotori would be lying to herself if she didn’t think it was a little bit exciting; she couldn’t even begin to imagine the danger that it presented to have not just a werewolf, but a _Sonoda_ hiding in her room. She couldn’t recall a time where she felt that there was more at risk than now. Discovery simply wasn’t an option.

Her on her slippers as she made a conscious note to move silently, a towel draped over her head. She neared her bedroom door, patting her cheek dry and reaching for the door knob.

 _“... what makes you say that?”_ A gentle inquiry sounded from her room.

A pause. Kotori halted, pulling her towel down to rest on her shoulders. Was Umi on the phone?

_“I have nowhere else to go.”_

Silence.

 _“I wouldn’t say I’m being untruthful,”_ Umi’s hushed words came.

Kotori couldn’t imagine who she might be talking to. She went through the list of all the people that she had met recently. Eli and Honoka were still very much recovering, so it could be possible that she was talking with Nico or Maki, whatever she had to discuss with them over the phone.

 _“You’re actually very full of yourself, aren’t you?”_ Umi actually sounded a little… exasperated?

There was a moment of brief, dry laughter. _“Of course I know.”_

Kotori began to wonder when she should make her presence known, seeming as she was caught in the midst of eavesdropping. She swallowed, finally deciding to open the door and enter, her head ducked.

She spared a look at Umi, though, who didn’t look like she was surprised by any means as she watched her enter. She was on her bed with a towel draped over her head. Upon inspecting Umi’s surroundings, Kotori also noticed that she had no phone. She must have known that she had heard at least some of it. It was either bite the bullet or be caught in an even more awkward situation.

She decided to go with the former. “Who were you talking to?” she asked meekly.

“Myself,” Umi replied evenly from where she sat on the floor, giving nothing away. She swiped her wet bangs from her forehead, pressing on the towel over her head and moving it back and forth to dry her hair.

Kotori had a feeling that that wasn’t entirely true. She looked to Ucchi perched on the rim of a shallow birdbath, projecting her thoughts towards him. _Is that true?_

 _She_ was _talking to herself just now. You always attract the strangest people, Minami-sama. Could you tell her that that is an awful habit? Though I suppose I have seen you partake in stranger behaviors._

 _W-what?! Ucchi-chan, your awful habit is teasing me, isn’t it?_ Kotori countered, blushing and looking down. Was she really _that_ weird? She never really noticed that she did anything out of the ordinary.

 _Perhaps,_ he replied with a mirthful chuckle in his voice.

Umi’s eyes pressed into slits as she looked between her and Ucchi, a hint of amusement curling one side of her lips.

She gave Ucchi one more skeptical glance before sighing and looking back to Umi. Kotori smiled a little as well, glad to see that she was still capable of expressing such emotions despite the circumstances.

She was still reminded of why Umi was even here in the first place, though, causing her to sober a little. Kotori went and moved forward to sit on the bed next to Umi, trying to construct her next question. “Umi-chan… what are you going to do now?”

She sighed, her lips pressing into a thin line as she dropped her arms, pulling off the towel from her tousled, damp hair in one swift motion. She parted her lips to speak, no words coming to her immediately as her eyes inspected the floor. Umi slumped over a bit and shrugged one shoulder noncommittally. “I’m not ready to go back and face Honoka or her family. And as attractive as the idea of just running away from everything sounds, I know that's not an option, either. The more I think about my last option, however, the more I like the idea of running away.”

Kotori watched her, fiddling with the ends of her nightgown. “Is that… what you’re doing now?”

“I don't think so,” Umi murmured as she rose and sat adjacent to her on the bed, folding her towel in her lap. The mattress shifted under her weight, creaking softly, but Kotori remained relatively unmoved. “This is more like resting,” she continued. “Running is… running away is more like leaving everything behind with no intention of taking responsibility for the things that have gone wrong.”

“Oh,” Kotori replied softly, removing her own towel from her shoulders. “What is your last option?”

“Confront Tsuruya Rei. If she really did all of this, then nothing can save her from what I have in store for her,” Umi uttered lowly. “But I’m afraid if I confront her alone, I’ll do something that I’ll regret for the rest of my life—if I make it out alive, that is,” she whispered, her fingers idly brushing the fibers of the towel in her lap.

Rightfully, Rei and her whole pack shouldn’t get out of this without facing retribution. What that should look like, though, was a completely different thing. But there was a subtle, dark glint in Umi’s eyes that concerned her. Was she considering something irredeemably vengeful?

Kotori leaned forward and took Umi’s hands into her own. “Umi-chan,” she started softly but sternly. “I can’t pretend to know what going through all of this feels like, but I know that that isn’t the answer. If you let go of what makes you who you are, then what’s the point?”

The words didn't sink in immediately. She could see the retort forming on Umi’s lips. It slipped away as she hunched over, her forehead resting in her palm. Kotori looked down as Umi’s hand turned up and her fingers curled around her own. Kotori couldn’t ignore the way her heart jumped at such a simple gesture, squeezing a little tighter.

“I don't know,” Umi finally replied. “Me being me hasn't fixed anything. Us Sonodas being Sonodas for generations hasn't fixed anything. _Something_ needs to change and I thought I was doing everything right to make sure that that change came to fruition. But that very change opened up weaknesses on all sides for me to be taken advantage of. I don't know what to do aside from doing something I completely condemn to get back in this game where everyone else is doing condemnable things.”

“That’s not true.” Kotori shook her head, her brows furrowing. “Your family has done so much for werewolves. I’d hate to imagine a world without the Sonodas—if no one stepped forward to do what your family has done, there would have been no movement to fight for werewolf rights. I think that that's a success, at the very least.”

The palm at Umi’s forehead slipped past her temple, her fingers running through her damp hair and stopping at the back of her neck, her head bowed. A brief, one-note hum of acknowledgement sounded from her. There was something about what Kotori said that was astounding unconvincing. Kotori's mind halted. She recalled what Umi had told her upon her arrival, about how her father lied about his political motivations. Remembering that and realizing what she had just said, she must have sounded so childish. Kotori wanted to wrap her head with her towel and never talk again.

But Kotori didn’t really think that she had presented the most substantial point to Umi, anyway. Family legacy aside, there was so much more that Umi hadn't yet realized.

“But I haven’t even started with you, and what you’re capable of,” Kotori continued, smiling a little. “You don’t give yourself enough credit for everything you’ve done. You’ve taken on more change than your family has for generations, and no one said that would be easy. Change always brings challenge. You’re so strong to decide to go through with this. No one told you that you had to—it was of your own volition. If that isn’t perseverance, and if that isn’t distinctly _you_ , then I don’t know what is.”

That seemed to stir something of a response. Umi peeked up, a meek smile gracing her lips before it faded gradually. Her amber eyes studied her own caramel ones. “You’re right…” she murmured, her gaze intensifying into something calculated and focused as she broke away from her eyes as she looked over the features of Kotori’s face casually–her cheeks and lips and neck. An ebb of self consciousness arose in Kotori. She flushed at the sudden scrutiny.

“At the party, I asked you how it was you were able to keep smiling in the face of adversary. My pack keeps me grounded and strong, I realize now....” Umi paused, her lips pursing as she sighed tiredly and continued on. “But you said I give you hope. And after seeing what you’re capable of, I can’t fathom why that is. If anything, I have been dragging you back and complicating matters for you. But you don’t think that that’s the case…”

Umi pulled the towel out of her lap and put it on the bed next to her. She leaned towards Kotori, one of her palms planting onto the bed next to her and effectively minimizing the gap between them.

Kotori chanced another look at Umi, her heartbeat drumming rapidly at what she was met with. Kotori’s own towel dropped off of her lap and bundled around her feet, all but forgotten now. She was completely enamored with the soft, contemplative gaze that Umi regarded her with, one that made her feel so remarkably nervous… and _special_ , really. She could get lost in those eyes for hours without growing tired of them, Kotori realized. If only there was a time where they could do just that, disregarding the whole world just to spend it with Umi...

“You’ve told me about your family, your studies, where you grew up… but I still know so little about you. And with what happened at the end of the party, I realized that I’m still so far from understanding you. If you’re able to be so accepting of me even after all of my flaws and troubles have been laid bare before you and the time comes where I am challenged with whatever it is that I know you are fighting, I’m afraid I’ll fail to be someone that you can find hope in anymore because I’m just not as confident of a person as you are. I’m an anxious wreck and I’m terrified that if I’m pushed any farther than I’m pushed now, I’ll simply snap. So help me understand,” Umi whispered, the pads of her fingers brushing up her forearm as she angled her head down and rested her forehead flush against her own, her eyelids sliding to close. Kotori stopped breathing and her heart jumped up into her throat.

“Tell me what I can do for you before I convince myself that I’m not worth being by your side when you need me most,” Umi paused, her breath tickling her lips and her hand slipping past her forearm and hooking around her waist. “Tell me that there isn’t anything for me to be afraid of.”

As her hands slowly glided up to Umi’s shoulders, she realized that it would have been so effortless to seal the space between them. Kotori found herself drawn to the idea, even if her better self warned against it. But how simple it could have been to throw every word of caution to the wind and take a leap of faith...

But why couldn’t she do it? What forces kept her from doing what she so obviously wanted to do?

Kotori had to convince herself to rationalize. Umi had been through so much. Everything—her sisters, her father, the state of their country—weighed so intensely on her that she was only moments from breaking. What could push her over that threshold could well be _anything,_ and that made outcomes difficult to predict. It was already so hard to say when Umi _knew_ Kotori was hiding something from her.

Umi was hurting beyond what Kotori could comprehend, forced into a position of helplessness that could have brought her to do things that she normally wouldn’t. A desperate person who had already lost everything had less qualms with doing more reckless things.

With a shaky exhale, Kotori pulled back to cup Umi’s cheeks, using that leverage to push away from her gently. It was almost physically painful to do, but she knew she had to. It would be taking advantage of an already vulnerable person. As much as it hurt to think that Umi would have never wanted this otherwise, she cared far more about preserving the relationship that they already had than chasing any fleeting desires she possessed. She didn’t have the room or the time to make mistakes like that.

Kotori closed her eyes and bit her lip to recover from the overwhelming disappointment, blinking a few times and meeting Umi’s eyes sadly. If Umi was upset, she didn't show it. An unspoken mutual agreement was made, the boundaries Kotori had just set accepted wordlessly as Umi, with one lingering look to her lips, shifted to sit back onto her center.

“It’s still true that I can’t do this all alone,” Kotori started softly, barely above a whisper. She drew her eyes away from Umi entirely, her hands gliding to rest on her shoulders. “I need you to be there… should I fall, I need you to continue on with what we started.” Slowly she stated those words, her heart heavy. She swallowed. “I think you’re the only one who can. And I know… everything about what I’m doing is so selfish. Even now, I want to be so selfish and follow my desires.” Kotori absently slid her hands down Umi’s chest, her eyes following suit as well. “And I’m pushing a lot onto you when I say that. Even involving you and your family in my life has been extremely selfish of me. I’m so afraid that you’ll hate me when you realize what I’ve done. I could only hope that you’ll forgive me one day.”

“I can never hate you,” Umi replied in a gentle, soft tone, her brows pulling into a furrow as her chin dropped.

She shook her head, meeting Umi’s eyes with remorse. Of course she would deny it now. Kotori wanted to tell her _why_ she was so afraid of getting closer to other people, but Umi was in no position to hear the truth right now. It would hurt her too much and she was teetering with her own health and well being as it was.

“We both have a dream—to see our people live in peace,” she continued on, needing to relay her thoughts. “It can’t be accomplished right away. I just hope that we can start an example that inspires others to follow.” She tried a smile. “And _you’re_ inspiring to me, Umi-chan. You’ve put so much of your love and energy into your family—into Honoka-chan and them. The things you have done for them and their lives is beyond invaluable. They couldn’t be the people they are today without you… and I believe that because of how you have empowered them, they will have the strength to overcome their obstacles as well.”

Umi nodded, her words getting through to her. Kotori couldn't be more thankful that Umi wasn't closing off to her.

“I may have the magical ability, but I think _you’re_ the one with the true power here. You’re a born leader, and we need you…” She paused, grasping a little at Umi’s shirt. “ _I_ need you. I can’t do what you can. You inspire the best in everyone, and even that alone is enough for me.”

The seconds ticked by as the last of her words hovered over them. Umi seemed to almost look right through her with how intently she studied her. A small smile came to her lips as she reached up to take her hands in her own, squeezing them tight as she kept her eyes. “Even when asking this of me, you manage to be so incredibly selfless… but if that is what you wish, then I’ll do as you ask. I’m done pushing away the people that are dear to me—done with thinking that that is protecting them.”

Kotori gave her a small nod, her eyes dropping to their laps. She could never see herself in the same way that Umi did, wanting to revoke this false image that she seemed so keen on admiring. Still, she didn’t have the heart to say otherwise, feeling emotionally drained after everything that transpired. It felt awful to lie to her because she was being hypocritical. How can she tell Umi that she inspired the betterment of the people around her when Kotori was so adamant upon hiding from her? She held onto the fact that she wanted to say something, but the timing just wasn’t right. She could only wish that she could be as selfless as Umi saw her to be, or even as selfless as Umi was herself.

 _I agree with that you should wait to tell her, though you will have to sooner or later. It will be painful no matter how it happens,_ Ucchi said in her mind.

_You know, Minami-sama… does it not seem as though the world is less cruel when you are able to be with someone like this? In spite of everything, you are lucky that you happened upon Umi-san and her pack that night. I am glad she can give you something that I might not be able to provide for you as your familiar._

_“Something?”_ she repeated, peeking at where the owl was perched. _I’m not sure what that something is just yet…_

 _I could not put it into words, but I can see it._ Something _indeed._

“It’s been a long day. We should both get some rest,” Umi said. She hesitated before she pulled her hands away from Kotori’s and began to move off of the bed.

Kotori missed Umi’s touch instantly, but she couldn’t bring herself to argue. While Umi’s weight disappeared from her bed, a new one was settling on her chest. “Right,” she said so softly that she might as well have said nothing. “Ucchi-chan, you’ll keep watch, won’t you?” she asked aloud, turning on her mattress.

 _Of course_ , he said aptly before hopping up onto the edge of his birdbath and rifling through his feathers with his pointed beak. Then, he took flight, heading out the slightly cracked window and into the crisp night air.

Kotori watched Umi for an elongated moment as she straightened out the rollout futon on the floor and began to settle in it. So, she pulled back her covers and slid into the soft layers, her mind preoccupied with the past hours and even days. When it looked as if Umi was ready for the lights to go out, Kotori uttered, “Good night.”

“Good night,” she replied softly as she eased into the covers of her futon.

When the lamplight switched off, darkness quickly claimed the room. Rest certainly wouldn’t come as easy to her as she would have liked, but the emotional stress left her exhausted enough to make sleep a possible prospect. There was something comforting about having Umi in her room, though, and strangely enough she had felt the safest she had been since before Halloween. With Umi's presence putting peace in her mind, she found restful sleep. She could only hope that Umi would be able to do the same.


End file.
